Quality Of Health Care In Cebu

[Mike S]

Yes it is amazing about the quality of care given here in Cebu and the cost in relation to ...... 2 weeks ago I had for the first time in my life had a kidney stone ..... started as a back pain in the morning when I got out of bed and later went away ..... next day a little worst and more on the right side ..... by noon it was hurting pretty good so I did a quick Google and all the symptoms plus my experience of 17 years working in hospitals told me I need to see some one ...... Well being stubborn and quite pain tolerable and as it was Sat. I let it go ...... Mon. morning I was ready to see anybody ..... a friend told me about a kidney specialist who was certified in the states as well as the Phils so we called up for an appointment ...... hummmm ... did I mention I had only slept about 3 hours in 2 days ..... anyway we went to the office and talked to him at Doctors Hospital he wanted me to run some tests so he wrote out some orders gave me 4 prescriptions and off we went to the Lab Well I don't mind telling you I was a bit put off as I had heard all these stories about how terrible health care is here in the Phils ..... and I expected the worst ..... went to the Lab and signed in ..... 20 mins later we were called (try that time frame in the US) ..... give our info and they gave me the price (pay first ... then treatment) after paying I asked "do I go back and wait" ..... "no sir .... go in the door") ...... after a urine sample and blood test (total of another 20 mins) we were told we could wait for the results ...... as I had to go back for an Ultrasound the next morning we told them we would pick it up the next day ..... Next morning at 8:00am we were at the radiology depart for my sonogram ...... waited about 40 mins ..... Julie picked up the Lab results while we waited ..... everything was in plain English and showed the results and the normal ranges that the tests should be in ....... never in all the times I have needed medical treatments in the US was I ever allowed to see let alone understand any medical reports ....... most were sent to the Dr. and he told me what they said ...... Anyway sonogram done the radiologist said he could see nothing but if the stone was moving it would not show up and he gave me the sono pictures and the results .... again I could read and understand the results ...... so back to Doctor Tam with the tests and to make an appointment ..... they don't take appointments here ... first come first served ...... as I didn't feel like waiting ... he would be in at about 11:00am ..... Well it only got worst in about 2 hours and we called and told the girl we would be in when we could as my pain was unbelievable ...... she said "come right now ... I'll get you in" ...... sure enough we got there with me hobbling along and she sent us right in ....... Dr. Tam kinda smiled and said "thought you told me you could stand some pain" ...... then he told me "next to child birth this is the worst pain possible ...... and until you pass the stone it will continue" ....... he wrote 3 more prescriptions 1 for stronger pain medication ...... Now I don't like taking medication and pain pills are a definite no no in my book but I have never experienced anything like this in my life ...... so I took the medication until the pain medication ran out in 7 days ...... felt fine ...... after the seven days I also quit the first pain medication he prescribed to see if the stone had done anything ..... no pain ..... been 5 days now and I feel fine ... will go back on Monday for a follow up visit ...... So why did I write all this crap ............. well just to show that there is good care available he in the Phils ....... and before you say "because you are foreign and can pay ....... all people must pay either right before or right after being attended to ........ I experienced nothing but excellent care and fast service .... much more so than in the US were I have personally waited more than 3 hours in an emergency room waiting for some one to see me ...... And the cost ....... well here it is Dr Tan's charge ........ 450p for first visit ...... 350p for second ........ and he is a specialist Lab .............. 1035pRadiology ............2500pPrescriptions .............9505.10pTotal ............... 13840.10p ............ or $ 282.45Hell my office visits alone in the US were $135.00 and that was to see a GP not a specialists ...... the last time I had to take some one to the ER it cost $818 ... or 400082p ........and the Dr. billed separate ...... never did find out what the Dr. charged ....... and that was for only a blood test and 1.5 hours in the ER ....... Will I be afraid to use the health care system here again ...... nope ...... seen and worked in much worst in the USA

[Jollygoodfellow]

Yes it is amazing about the quality of care given here in Cebu and the cost in relation to ...... 2 weeks ago I had for the first time in my life had a kidney stone ..... started as a back pain in the morning when I got out of bed and later went away ..... next day a little worst and more on the right side ..... by noon it was hurting pretty good so I did a quick Google and all the symptoms plus my experience of 17 years working in hospitals told me I need to see some one ...... Well being stubborn and quite pain tolerable and as it was Sat. I let it go ...... Mon. morning I was ready to see anybody ..... a friend told me about a kidney specialist who was certified in the states as well as the Phils so we called up for an appointment ...... hummmm ... did I mention I had only slept about 3 hours in 2 days ..... anyway we went to the office and talked to him at Doctors Hospital he wanted me to run some tests so he wrote out some orders gave me 4 prescriptions and off we went to the Lab Well I don't mind telling you I was a bit put off as I had heard all these stories about how terrible health care is here in the Phils ..... and I expected the worst ..... went to the Lab and signed in ..... 20 mins later we were called (try that time frame in the US) ..... give our info and they gave me the price (pay first ... then treatment) after paying I asked "do I go back and wait" ..... "no sir .... go in the door") ...... after a urine sample and blood test (total of another 20 mins) we were told we could wait for the results ...... as I had to go back for an Ultrasound the next morning we told them we would pick it up the next day ..... Next morning at 8:00am we were at the radiology depart for my sonogram ...... waited about 40 mins ..... Julie picked up the Lab results while we waited ..... everything was in plain English and showed the results and the normal ranges that the tests should be in ....... never in all the times I have needed medical treatments in the US was I ever allowed to see let alone understand any medical reports ....... most were sent to the Dr. and he told me what they said ...... Anyway sonogram done the radiologist said he could see nothing but if the stone was moving it would not show up and he gave me the sono pictures and the results .... again I could read and understand the results ...... so back to Doctor Tam with the tests and to make an appointment ..... they don't take appointments here ... first come first served ...... as I didn't feel like waiting ... he would be in at about 11:00am ..... Well it only got worst in about 2 hours and we called and told the girl we would be in when we could as my pain was unbelievable ...... she said "come right now ... I'll get you in" ...... sure enough we got there with me hobbling along and she sent us right in ....... Dr. Tam kinda smiled and said "thought you told me you could stand some pain" ...... then he told me "next to child birth this is the worst pain possible ...... and until you pass the stone it will continue" ....... he wrote 3 more prescriptions 1 for stronger pain medication ...... Now I don't like taking medication and pain pills are a definite no no in my book but I have never experienced anything like this in my life ...... so I took the medication until the pain medication ran out in 7 days ...... felt fine ...... after the seven days I also quit the first pain medication he prescribed to see if the stone had done anything ..... no pain ..... been 5 days now and I feel fine ... will go back on Monday for a follow up visit ...... So why did I write all this crap ............. well just to show that there is good care available he in the Phils ....... and before you say "because you are foreign and can pay ....... all people must pay either right before or right after being attended to ........ I experienced nothing but excellent care and fast service .... much more so than in the US were I have personally waited more than 3 hours in an emergency room waiting for some one to see me ...... And the cost ....... well here it is Dr Tan's charge ........ 450p for first visit ...... 350p for second ........ and he is a specialist Lab .............. 1035pRadiology ............2500pPrescriptions .............9505.10pTotal ............... 13840.10p ............ or $ 282.45Hell my office visits alone in the US were $135.00 and that was to see a GP not a specialists ...... the last time I had to take some one to the ER it cost $818 ... or 400082p ........and the Dr. billed separate ...... never did find out what the Dr. charged ....... and that was for only a blood test and 1.5 hours in the ER ....... Will I be afraid to use the health care system here again ...... nope ...... seen and worked in much worst in the USA

Welcome to the Kidney stone club, I know too well the pain you felt being a veteran of 5 kidney stones.Lucky for me the last one a few months ago came out very quick but the one before I was in so much pain I went to the hospital. To cut a long story short this one was so large from the x-rays that they were considering surgery as they did not think it could come out by its self.I left the hospital after about 4 hours, heaps of pain relief and 5 bags of a drip as I was dehydrated from throwing up, pain caused that.Anyway about 6 weeks later, in pain sometimes and not so bad others I went to Cebu for a month, always dreading the pain would come back or I would end up in hospital.On the last day in Cebu I felt the symptoms returning but were well enough to fly home, a few days later the stone passed,it was huge and I have keep it stuck to a piece of cardboard now for show and tell, :7481: I have not been in a Philippines hospital but know how you felt :13_4_10[1]:

[Mr Lee]

There are a few different types of stones but calcium stones seem to be the most common. One friend of mine used to get stones all the time until he increased his calcium intake and has been stone free for years now. The old thought was that too much calcium in the diet would cause stones, I guess anyone who has stones should look at their diet and see if they take in enough calcium daily to see if it could be the new thought trend of too little calcium that may be causing their problems. It is also a good idea to add a lot of water to the diet. I learned the Filipino way of drinking beer and I now drink it with ice or in an iced glass and that seems to actually help my medical issues :13_4_10[1]: and my doctors actually tell me to drink a couple of beers a day. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kidney_stoneCalcium oxalate stonesThe most common type of kidney stone is composed of calcium oxalate crystals, occurring in about 80% of cases,[7] and the factors that promote the precipitation of crystals in the urine are associated with the development of these stones.Common sense has long held that consumption of too much calcium could promote the development of calcium kidney stones. However, current evidence suggests that the consumption of low-calcium diets is actually associated with a higher overall risk for the development of kidney stones. [22] This is perhaps related to the role of calcium in binding ingested oxalate in the gastrointestinal tract. As the amount of calcium intake decreases, the amount of oxalate available for absorption into the bloodstream increases; this oxalate is then excreted in greater amounts into the urine by the kidneys. In the urine, oxalate is a very strong promoter of calcium oxalate precipitation, about 15 times stronger than calcium.

[tom_shor]

Glad everything came out ok Mike. (Pun Intended)There is quality medical care available in the Philippines it is a matter of who you see. I have also heard some horror stories. Like everywhere the skill of the Doctors varies greatly. If you have a good Doctor you will recieve good care. That is why it is important to get a referal from a patient if you can. Hope you are feeling better now.

[johnrxx99]

Glad everything came out ok Mike. (Pun Intended)There is quality medical care available in the Philippines it is a matter of who you see. I have also heard some horror stories. Like everywhere the skill of the Doctors varies greatly. If you have a good Doctor you will recieve good care. That is why it is important to get a referal from a patient if you can. Hope you are feeling better now.

I'll second that - it's not what you know but who you know.Just a couple of comments. The speed of attention you get here is superb. It's a bit mind boggling at first as you go from one test to another. I've had need to attend hospital on several occasions - I don't bother with doctors who are not located at one - for infected wounds or chest infections and the like. Nothing nasty like kidney stones. Just chat with people who are queing up in the corridors and they soon point you in the right direction, ie to one they consider good. If they can't help they'll redirect you a specialist either in that hospital or another - 300peso for a referal is not bad on the basis that when you show up at the specialist you join the front of the que.A few tips. If you get a prescription at a hospital, go to an outside chemist as the hospitals usually charge 20% + more. Go first to the community hospitals rather than Cebu Doc or Cheung Hua. The latter are very good but expensive if you are checked in - they are big businesses.I say that because the only time I was admitted, I knocked myself out, doh!, the ambulance tried the Community Hospital but they didn't have any private rooms so they took me to Cheung Hua. For a bump on the head I had more tests that I even new existed and an array of pills that could stock a small drugstore. 30,000 peso for 2 days! So beware - it is a business.Also, did you know that a doctor gets a kickback for every prescription? So 4 pills instead of 1 can be an issue. Make sure you ask the doc what exactly the pills are then make a choice but it's up to you, lol.

[Mr Lee]

Luckily I have not needed a doctor yet while in Cebu and if and when I do, I will be sure to tap off the expertise of friends who have, as well as ask my dentist friend Ramon.I can however add about a great dentist who is now a friend, and that my wife and I have used for dental work and who just happens to be the brother-in-law of my wife's former boss and Ramon is married to my wife's former bosses sister and she is also a dentist in that office. Earlier this year, I got 4 caps replaced for around $600 total and it would have cost me that much or more for one cap in the US with my insurance. My wife also had work done and it was also a fraction of the cost in the US of A.The dental office is right off Fuente Osmena Circle next to and on top of McDonalda and Watsons drug store there. Ramon Cyril Sucalit and Eulalia Chio Sucalit Phone 253-2699 suite 307A Ma.Cristina Building II UPDATED ADDRESSYou can tell them Lee sent you if you want to. BTW, let me add here that the price they charge for everyone is the same, they do not charge expats more than Filipinos and I have seen a lot of expats having work done in their offices when we were there.