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也谈“中美医院印象比较”
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网友肖常青教授的博文- “中美医院印象比较”-使我想起五年前写的一篇為自己感触的文章. 現在登在这裡给读者做参考.
Personal experience with two different medical systems (in China and in the US) October 2004
A few days before we were going to return to the US while on a tour in a remote part of China, Sophia (my wife) came down with what later on diagnosed as dysentery. Upon returning to Beijing late one night, she was quite sick. Rather then creating extra bother for our host, I simply took Sophia to the Tsinghua University emergency clinic. This is a rather sparingly furnished facility, clean (by Chinese standards) and orderly. She was quickly seen by an attending physician who order blood and stool tests. These were performed on site and the results printed out while we waited. The attending physician then decided that the case is more serious then she is willing to handle alone and advised us to go to a University hospital. We took a taxi there and went through the admission and registration process rather quickly. The hospital is similarly furnished as the emergency clinic but has more extensive test and medical facilities. The attending physician for gastro-intestinal troubles was working a night shift to earn extra money (he told us so). A couple of patients were ahead of us. The waiting room and the examination room are one and the same. No privacy from other waiting patient while you are being examined. At one point, one patient want to ask more questions and explanations, the doctor brusquely said, can you see all the other patients waiting to see me. Just follow my instructions. I don’t have time to explain them in detail. He examined Sophia and order independent tests just to make sure. We went through more or less the same procedure at the on site testing lab and brought back the results. The doctor then explained that Sophia has dysentery and ordered a set of medicine (antibiotics, hydrating solution, and dysentery drugs), which we had them filled at the pharmacy on site. The medicine are similar to what a US doctor would prescribe according to our daughter who is a RN and experienced in such matters. The whole process at the two hospitals, two set of tests, doctor appointments, medicine cost less than US$40 total, something affordable by a middle class Beijing resident and took less than 4 hours.
One week after I returned, I took a nasty fall walking downstairs. I cut my forehead, which eventually required six stitches. Naturally, Sophia took me to the Mt. Auburn hospital (local hospital) emergency entrance. The triage nurse examined me and sat me down in a separate well furnished room. Compare to the Chinese facility, the medical equipments in and the cleanness of this room is night vs. day. There I waited for half an hour before a nurse came in to prepare me and to give me a tetanus shot. She washed down my cut and then the chief of emergency came in and examined me. He was jovial and talkative but also very professional. He sewed me up and asked various questions about possible concussion and explained what he will be doing every step of the way. Of course, all the equipment he needed was there at his fingertip in this room. After he finished, he gave out a set of printed instruction for treating the wound and antibiotic cream to use the next few days. The nurse came back in cleaned up the used material, changed the sheet, and put the room back to new condition ready for the next patient (in China, I don’t know how often they change the sheets and clean the examination room. Once a day or every other day? The bedsheet was certainly used by many patients without change). I returned home in two hours. Incidentally the reason we choose Mt. Aurburn emergency rather Lahey emergency ( another local hospital) is because the two bad experiences I had there for other injuries. Each time Lahey made me wait hours in pain before giving me treatment.
What did I learn from these two experiences? In China, the medical care for more or less routine treatment is actually quite efficient for the paying middle class. The cost is quite reasonable. But the facilities are substandard according to what Americana are used to. I don’t know how well equipped they can handle true life-and-death emergencies. But in terms of delivering routine care to maximal number of patients at minimal cost on the average, I think they do a pretty good job. On the other hand, in the US, for someone with insurance (the co-payment is US$25.00).
I am sure I got world-class care.
Even though my case is routine, I have the feeling that my care is backed up with all kinds of depth. If something unforeseen or serious happened while under treatment, the hospital is prepared to deal with the problem immediately. I don’t think I will have this assurance in China. In fact, we heard of the case of the wife of a very high Chinese official. She was undergoing surgery for an aneurysm in the best hospital. Something unexpected happened with the result she became paralyzed due to blood flooding in the brain. A mishap that could be prevented if the doctor and the operating room were prepared. However, what are the cost of US medical care. I would not be surprised that my insurance paid out at least $1000 for my visit – five to ten times what we paid in China without insurance.(Note: If you are not insured and cannot pay, the emergency department of a hospital must still treat you by law. The some 37 million persons in the US who do not have insurance often use the emergency department of a hospital this way to get free medical care. This is one of the reasons contributing to the cost of health care in the US)
https://wap.sciencenet.cn/blog-1565-227902.html
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