Medical care for tourists/foreigners in China?

[Ruben von Zwack]

Hello, has any of you ever had the pleasure of finding yourself in a hospital in China, or more general, needing medical care?

I have no realistic idea of what to expect in such case.

I'm asking because whenever I'm on a longer trip, I seem to manage to do something stupid - breaking off a tooth, getting a middle ear inflammation in the desert, etc. - and need to pay visit to a hospital. Experiences have been between "nice, I wouldn't mind staying longer" and terrifying

The press where I live paints pretty gruesome pictures of Chinese hospitals, but I take that with a grain of salt because obviously "the bed sheets were stained with dried blood" sells better than "it was pretty average and middle class".

Thanks!

[SuEn]

It really depends where you go. I've been to a big local hospital in a second-tier city, it was okay-ish, obviously still way below the standard I'm used to from Europe, there was some reconstruction going on in the middle of the building where patients were still being seen, the blood drawing place was not far from there and also one of the worst restrooms I've seen in China. The doctor wasn't half-bad although she had some strange suggestions but was quite thorough with the tests she ordered. In the end she said I was fine, even though I was still having symptoms. I wasn't convinced.

This was not an emergency, I went by myself and it was actually quite an experience, I have to say. Later someone told me that was actually the best hospital in that city.

I ended up getting an appointment at a private foreign hospitals in a bigger city. The doctor I saw there was way better than my doctor at home. He actually couldn't find anything wrong either, but gave me some meds. These places are quite expensive, though. My insurance company reimbursed me a few months later, so it was fine.

So, I'd say, you get what you pay for. You can get really good medical in bigger cities if you're willing to pay for it. In the local hospitals, the quality is lower, depends on your condition and the doctor you see.

But these are just my opinions, I don't have extensive experience with medical care in China, maybe someone else can provide some more general information.

[Ruben von Zwack]

Thanks! This is already interesting enough for me to get a first idea!

[kdavid]

I can't speak for first-rate hospitals in the large metropolises, but "first-rate" hospitals in second tier cities like Harbin are places you don't want to stay any longer than you absolutely must.

In general, these hospitals can keep you from dying, but won't be a comfortable place to stay long-term.

[ChTTay]

I've been to hospitals in first, second and third tier cities for various cases of food poisoning and one lung infection/fever.

By far the best experience was in Qingdao. At the time, they had a small "foreigner clinic" built into the new hospital. Nurses spoke a level of English and the doctors were mostly Chinese nationals who had returmed home from working abroad. My doctor at the time seemed to have reached retirement age in the USA then just moved home. Raved to me about how cheap fruit was in China. Anyway, it was great. More expensive than just going through the usual hospital system but also a lot cheaper than an expat type hospital here in Beijing. Think it was 40 rmb to see the doctor and 60rmb for the drugs. This was food poisoning. The doctor did no tests, gave me antibiotics.

Chinese hospital in other cities for food poisoning, all wanted urine, stool and blood tests. Giving blood in China is more unpleasant than usual and i usually end up with bruised, swollen arm. Have to "queue up" to see the doctor. By this, i mean twenty people cram into the doctors office and shove around until its their turn. Doctor listens, tells you which tests to do, you go off and do them, get results then go back to the doctor with them. Then they give you a diagnosis/drugs.

I went to see a doctor at midnight for the chest infection and fever. That was pretty good because it was so late there were no lines. This was in a third tier city. I had an x-ray which confirmed the infection, was prescribed drugs. Also was given the choice between a drip and an ass injection. I took the ass injection rather than wait for two hours on a drip. After the injection my leg went completely numb and I couldn't use it for 5 minutes. The nurse claimed it was because it was my first ass injection. I also was close to fainting, went green/white colour. The doctor let me go back in his room and lie on the bed for s bit.

A few things I don't like are that the toilets in hospitals ive been to never have soap. Also, to give a stool sample they just give you a kind of small "tray" rather than a test tube type thing and a "scoop" haha. Also, some Chinese hospitals tend to have pictures of diseases or just "insides" lf people dotted around. Took my female friend to a womens ward of a hospital once which had this kind of "decorations".... It was a harrowing experience, couldn't look at a woman for a week!!

[shuoshuo]

First-tier city, Shanghai. Some hospitals have sections for foreigners, which my friends have experienced and they're all alright with it. I on the other hand, ended up at the general section and I was the only foreigner there. I wasn't feeling well at all so that's how I ended up there. The doctor took one look at me, asked me questions about my country, and then told me that I'm still young so there's no way it could be anything serious. He entertained my hypochondria by sending me to do X-ray and ECG. I feel there's some level of negligence so don't go to a Chinese hospital if you're trying to get diagnosed. If you're in a first-tier city, I would advise getting diagnosed at a foreign clinic. Go to a Chinese hospital if you already know what you have and what you need done. After all, it's extremely cheap.

[ChTTay]

... at least in my experience, as long as you go with something obviously wrong and you don't think it will be too serious then it's fine. If you have "travellers diarrhea " for example, or some pain in your "whatever" then there should be no problems. It's better if you have someone who speaks Chinese though. A friend of mine got bitten by something in Guilin and his arm swelled up instantly, within an hour it was like he had a second head growing out of his forearm. He just wemt to a chinese hospital, mimed a flying bug in the air then biting him. Treated him correctly without issue.

However, if you have something a bit more vague ... you were feeling fatigued, stomach feels a bit weird, its been happening on and off for a few months... Something like this, Then i'd probably go to a foreign clinic. Also, if it seems deadly serious then I would probably head to a clinic for diagnosis... Then hop on the next flight to your home country.

[Saxondale]

@ChTTay

What's the name of the hospital you went to in Qingdao? I've never needed to go, but it might come in handy.

Thanks

[knickherboots]

It's difficult to generalize about medical care in China.

[Ruben von Zwack]

A friend of mine got bitten by something in Guilin and his arm swelled up instantly, within an hour it was like he had a second head growing out of his forearm. He just wemt to a chinese hospital, mimed a flying bug in the air then biting him. Treated him correctly without issue.

I am torn between laughing and pity for your friend. Reminds me, in a macabre way, of tysond's "miming the menu" post in "need to go on a diet"

http://www.chinese-f..._20#comment-309200

I know getting a but shot or getting a little tray for a stool test or miming the bugger who bit you most likely wasn't too funny in the situation itself, but maybe it's some comfort that it makes for very entertaining stories in retrospective

[abcdefg]

I've had out-patient care in China, but never needed admission. (I live in Kunming.) Have accompanied two or three friends who did wind up needing hospitalization. The care has left something to be desired except when they really didn't have much of anything wrong and were more "worried well" than really organically ill.

Most memorable example was a 25 year old female friend who had acute onset right lower quadrant abdominal pain, 7 or 8 on a scale of 1 to 10, and accompanied by nausea but no vomiting or diarrhea. After lab work and a CT scan, the diagnosis was appendicitis. Her medical team was urging an emergency appendectomy, but she had already had her appendix removed three years previously back in her home country.

Apart from actual medical errors, there also is the issue of practice style. In China the doctor is usually an authority figure who doesn't feel the need to explain and doesn't have a "consultative" bedside manner. He tells you what to do, you thank him and go do it.

The other practice style issue is that there is usually very little hand holding in China. The doctor won't make much effort to allay your anxiety. The interaction is usually devoid of "warm and fuzzy, feel good" trappings.

Furthermore, if he or she thinks there is really nothing wrong, it will just be a matter of "没有问题。你好好休息，多喝一点水,“ or something similar. ("Nothing really wrong; get extra rest and drink plenty of fluids.")

[xuefang]

I have exprience in staying for 10 days in a quite a big hospital here in Guangzhou because of bad skin burn. Here is something that I would advice someone to pay attention to if needed to stay in a hospital in China: (Note, these are based on my own experience, things might be different in another hospital/city)

• No medicine in the ambulance, ambulance have to be paid right away
  
• You have to pay first, you don't basically get any treatment before paying first
  
• You have to pay separately for a ayi to help you with eating, using the toilet etc
  
• Best option would be to have a family member or a good friend with you at all times to help you
  
• In a quite big hospital in Guangzhou I spent about 10 000RMB when staying 10 days, just laying there on the bed was about 200RMB per night
  
• You don't get anything for free in the hospital, have your friend to buy water, toilet paper etc essentials for you
  

I also wrote about my experience back in 2010 in my blog.

What I would recommend, and I do recommend to anyone coming to Guangzhou, is to visit an international clinic like EurAm Medical Center when you need to see a doctor. For me personally that's pretty much the only place I go see a doctor anymore. For example on my skin burn, the advice from the medical center was the opposite to the advice I got from the Chinese hospital. And only after seeing the doctor in the medical center, did I start to recover.

[WestTexas]

• No medicine in the ambulance, ambulance have to be paid right away

Yeah, the ambulance is basically just a van with a stretcher in the back. They don't even drive fast. If you think it's safe to move the person, I would advise just using a taxi. It will be much faster and cheaper. One of my friends in Shenyang fell in the shower and we had to call an ambulance. It was about 11pm at night, no traffic, the hospital we went to was maybe 4km away at most. Ambulance took 45 minutes to get there. Now, we couldn't move him because his ribs might have jabbed into the wrong organs, so we had no choice but to wait. But if you can get the person into a taxi, it's probably better to take the taxi.

I echo the sentiment that, if it's something obvious and common, you will probably be fine and save a lot of money. I've been to the hospital for myself twice in China. The first time, I had hurt my ankle a few months before. The ankle had gotten better mostly but had started hurting more recently. I decided going to get it looked at was probably a good idea. The doctor looked my ankle and was like, "It's not swollen and you can walk. Why are you here?" Then he prescribed me some muscle relaxer that apparently has a 1.3% chance to cause acute liver failure and an even higher chance if you take it with alcohol. He didn't tell me this — I read it online before I decided not to take any of the medication.

Second time, I had massive back pain. Went in, got a scan, had a herniated disc. Then the doctor then prescribed me oxycotin and a box of TCM nonsense. I didn't want the TCM crap but they insisted I take it. So I had to pay like 200RMB for some brown pills made out of seahorses and ox horns. I guess that went OK... I got diagnosed for far cheaper than it would have been in the US.