Pneumonia is something that can come on very quickly and without remarkable symptoms. The least scary story I have to tell is that my mum made my sister go to school one day because she didn’t seem very ill, but she got worse at school and they took her to hospital where she was diagnosed with pneumonia. It just developed very quickly.
Not sure what you mean by you were asked to pay for a bunch of tests. I had once a visit that included an mri, a nerve conductivity test, consulation with two specialists and medicine and it cost us$20.
The three day thing does defy all logic apart from financial logic from the doctor’s point of view. If you are going to prescribe antibiotics, which contrary to what some have said seem to be administered much more conservatively here in Europe, then at least give the patient enough to wipe the infection out. Three days is simply not enough in most cases.
Dude, I wish your little girl better soon and look forward to seeing her again when you next visit the homeland.
Sorry to hear that my friend. We also spent 5 days in the hospital for pneumonia new years eve 2012.
My daughter had fever for 2 days. But it was until they switch medications that she got better. I can’t tell the attention was bad, but it was one of the worst experiences and I really don’t want repeat it. Well before going to the doctor we went to see our local pediatrician and the medication didn’t work.
I have also received antibiotics couple of times and only received 3 days. I asked if it was enough and they said it was. They also didn’t bother with a follow up appointment. I was unimpressed.
I have been critical of issues (and blasted by the board) with Taiwan’s NHI before. It’s a very good system since everyone has medical care at an affordable price but there are some areas where improvement is needed. big improvement in some cases like the above example.
In Taiwan, if you go see a Doctor in his office, he can ONLY give 3 days of a prescription… this is Taiwan law… ( I’ve asked several doctors why and this is what I was told. ) They say for a full 7 ~ 10 days of any prescription, one must go to a hospital.
I work in a kindergarten,preschool and now for the last month over 70 % of our kids have had a fever… and serious ones, many of our kids have been admitted to a hospital for this. It’s the weather, far too rainy and the hot one day…
Taiwan has had an usually wet spring… and until things dry up, it will continue…
Then comes summer with it’s own illness…
I hope your child is on the mend… nothing worse than a sick child…
[quote=“rowland”]People keep telling me health care in Taiwan is great, and America should do the same thing. But I see these beggars on the streets with what look like treatable medical conditions and I think: we don’t see that where I come from, unless maybe it’s victims of the Veterans Administration. And now this here thread.
So what’s with all the crippled beggars anyway?[/quote]
Are you saying you don’t have beggars in the USA? because my understanding is that the rate of homeless is greater than here. You must also know that the healthcare system of the people who complain here is way better and cheaper for the user than the one you have in USA.
[quote=“jesus80”][quote=“rowland”]People keep telling me health care in Taiwan is great, and America should do the same thing. But I see these beggars on the streets with what look like treatable medical conditions and I think: we don’t see that where I come from, unless maybe it’s victims of the Veterans Administration. And now this here thread.
So what’s with all the crippled beggars anyway?[/quote]
Are you saying you don’t have beggars in the USA? because my understanding is that the rate of homeless is greater than here. You must also know that the healthcare system of the people who complain here is way better and cheaper for the user than the one you have in USA.[/quote]
It’s his silly attempt to discredit universal healthcare.
I come from a place where “good health care” means everyone has medical care for free (providing you have Social Security, which I do).
I’ve had many tests (for different ailments), including all kinds of bloodwork, MRI, TAC, X-Rays, EKGs, EEGs, and all that. For free. Members of my family have had heart transplants, and my grandma had to go every month for bloodwork, transfusions, and tests (she had hepatitis C, which she contracted in the 80s when she went to give blood). All this procedures are 100% free of charge, same as for cancer and AIDS treatments. The few things not covered by the social security are dental work and regular laser eye surgery (but both my grandmas had their cataracts removed for free). In my opinion, THAT’s a good health care.
I come from a place where “good health care” means everyone has medical care for free (providing you have Social Security, which I do).
I’ve had many tests (for different ailments), including all kinds of bloodwork, MRI, TAC, X-Rays, EKGs, EEGs, and all that. For free. Members of my family have had heart transplants, and my grandma had to go every month for bloodwork, transfusions, and tests (she had hepatitis C, which she contracted in the 80s when she went to give blood). All this procedures are 100% free of charge, same as for cancer and AIDS treatments. The few things not covered by the social security are dental work and regular laser eye surgery (but both my grandmas had their cataracts removed for free). In my opinion, THAT’s a good health care.[/quote]
Taiwan’s system covers most of these for a small copay (it’s really a trivial amount imo). Not cancer or AIDS AFAIK but most things.
Most of Europe is far ahead of the world in the health care field. I would describe that as an absolutely incredible system. Taiwan in less than 20 years (?) has put a system in place that allows everyone access to some level of health care and that is pretty good in itself. There are flaws though. People have to acknowledge that the system is both good but flawed imo.
Lots of places in Europe have worse systems simply because they are vastly more expensive, so harder to access. Not everywhere has a universal health care system yet. You also have to go through a GP recommendation to visit a consultant, which causes delays, (bad for patients who have urgent treatment needs), adds costs and seems unnecessary. Germany has a decent system but they charge 7.75% on your salary for the privilege (on earnings of 53,550 Euros or less). Employer must make up the other half. In Taiwan I think it’s around 5%.
I come from a place where “good health care” means everyone has medical care for free (providing you have Social Security, which I do).
I’ve had many tests (for different ailments), including all kinds of bloodwork, MRI, TAC, X-Rays, EKGs, EEGs, and all that. For free. Members of my family have had heart transplants, and my grandma had to go every month for bloodwork, transfusions, and tests (she had hepatitis C, which she contracted in the 80s when she went to give blood). All this procedures are 100% free of charge, same as for cancer and AIDS treatments. The few things not covered by the social security are dental work and regular laser eye surgery (but both my grandmas had their cataracts removed for free). In my opinion, THAT’s a good health care.[/quote]
Ok. But you must be paying for this one way or the other, for example, higher taxes. In any case, the fees you would have paid for your daughters tests were surely trivial. I understand the strain you are under but it doesn’t help to build up a non-existent case against the medical system here. There are plenty of issues with the nhi but cost is not really one of them.
“Western” healthcare systems sometimes offer service and standards that’s marginally better what’s available in Taiwan, but they spend a LOT more money on it. My experience of the UK NHS has been uniformly poor, even though the cost is much higher than Taiwan. The UK spends about GBP1900/person/year, compared to NTD28000 (GBP560) in Taiwan. US insurance costs are about five times higher than the UK, AFAIK. Taiwan seems to have managed a pragmatic compromise, providing baseline healthcare for 90% of everyday problems, while deliberately excluding costly procedures.
As for misdiagnosis: it happens everywhere. There are good doctors and bad doctors. What freaks me out about the UK is that doctors don’t have more instrumentation in their clinics. At least in Taiwan they’ll have a few shiny metal things and a lamp on a stick. Even vets have a well-equipped lab with a microscope and clever machines for blood tests and whatnot. In the UK, all they’ve got on their desk is a few rubber gloves and a PC. I don’t see how anybody can diagnose anything without some visibility on underlying processes - that applies not just to medicine but any sort of fault-finding. A Taiwanese doctor can safely assume patients will head for a hospital if they feel really ill - but in the UK (and many other countries) that isn’t an option. The GP is the gatekeeper, and it’s unconscionable that he isn’t properly equipped to do that job.
[quote=“Mucha Man”
Ok. But you must be paying for this one way or the other, for example, higher taxes. In any case, the fees you would have paid for your daughters tests were surely trivial. I understand the strain you are under but it doesn’t help to build up a non-existent case against the medical system here. There are plenty of issues with the nhi but cost is not really one of them.[/quote]
Yes and now. What I have heard from healthcare in USA is that prices are REALLY expensive, to the point that they can’t be justified. If there’s less people getting rich out of this system, then it’s going to be definitively more affordable.
It seems many docs see themselves as practicers of the ‘art’ rather than technicians of the human body. I’ve asked them why they don’t use the latest Point of care tests routinely and it’s always a case of making excuses as to why it would not be very useful for this or that reason. Surely a more accurate and timely diagnosis will be useful without the input of human error!
That’s … well, I’m appalled.
I’m a pretty good engineer, but I’d be fucked without a decent oscilloscope on the bench. Taking an educated guess is not “diagnosis”.
Basic medical technology is now so cheap there’s zero excuse (apart from pure pig-headedness) for a GP not to have a really, really well-equipped surgery, even if he has to pay for it out of his own pocket. There are also a lot of companies coming up with clever new diagnostic tools aimed at developing countries, and cheaper versions of standard ones. There are all sorts of dirt-cheap disposable test kits - I’m sure you know way more about that than I do.
I mean, surely even a microscope would be a start? Just a microscope and a few stains? Maybe some facilities for bacterial culture, even if you’re sharing with the GP down the road? Is that too much to ask?
I got a tooth yanked a while ago, and after the 3 days’ worth of ABs was up, I just went back to the pharmacy and the guy gave me 7 more days’ worth.
Easy peasy. 
Oh and it cost me like NT$120 or something
That’s … well, I’m appalled.
I’m a pretty good engineer, but I’d be fucked without a decent oscilloscope on the bench. Taking an educated guess is not “diagnosis”.
Basic medical technology is now so cheap there’s zero excuse (apart from pure pig-headedness) for a GP not to have a really, really well-equipped surgery, even if he has to pay for it out of his own pocket. There are also a lot of companies coming up with clever new diagnostic tools aimed at developing countries, and cheaper versions of standard ones. There are all sorts of dirt-cheap disposable test kits - I’m sure you know way more about that than I do.
I mean, surely even a microscope would be a start? Just a microscope and a few stains? Maybe some facilities for bacterial culture, even if you’re sharing with the GP down the road? Is that too much to ask?[/quote]
Some of it is the GPs view of themselves as a mix of art and science.
But a large part comes from the way the system is setup aswell. Centralized tests tend tone reimbursed and cheap (discounted en masse) whereas the POC tests are more expensive individually even if they are rapid and reimbursement isn’t always available.
For instance I have experience working with a rapid metabolic disease system that is a desktop mini version of those behemoths central lab systems. It’s real Star Trek stuff, blood sample in, push button, 15 mins later, current metabolic profile ready to go.
The vets are buying it like crazy, as the pet owners will pony to the money as the pets don’t have insurance, but the human test versions are a very hard sell except into military (aircraft carriers/ships/bases) or remote areas. It’s all screwy…because of these archaic systems put in place along with resistance to ‘loss of control’ from the docs.
I saw that some time ago. And the cost the guy is referring for a hip replacement is in a private hospital with no insurance. I rest my case. Altough to run with the bulls, you have to go to Pamplona, not Madrid. 