Just had knee surgery in Japan. Three nights in the hospital (private room).
Total bill: About $550.
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My first reaction was why in the world were you in for three days. Hope youâre doing well.
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At those prices, Iâd make a long weekend of it!
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In Japan, in contrast to the US, they tend to keep you in the hospital too long rather than boot you out at the first opportunity. They actually wanted me to stay through the end of next week but I was anxious to get home.
About $150 of the above cost was extra charge for the private room. If I had chosen a shared room the total cost would have been that much less.
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Interesting. We want people out because our data shows people who stay get infections and blood clots. Only people we see who stay for that long in a typical thing are really bad fractures, open joints, joint dislocations, or joint infections
Plus, who wants to be in a hospital?
I thought patients in the US were booted out quickly for insurance purposes, but good to know. I certainly donât want to spend one more minute inside a hospital than is absolutely necessary.
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Oh Iâm sure if it benefited insurance companies to keep people in the hospital we would.
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I think thatâs actually common in East Asia because I had similar experiences in both South Korea and China regarding hospital stays. Iâm definitely not the type to disobey doctorâs orders but I definitely checked myself out once early and rejected a recommended hospital stay because there was essentially nothing the doctors could do other than charge me for taking up a bed. Just had to heal on my own (which I did).
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My understanding is that most hospitals get paid a flat rate for a procedure regardless of the length of stay. So itâs to their benefit to limit the time the patient stays unless thereâs serious risk of a complication which can result in readmisson or a pretty bad outcome.
This is a british doctor, but applicable here as well, itâs basically the medical version of one of those politicians when they have the âI thought rape was just boys will be boys stuff until it actually affected my wife/daughter etcâ moment
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No doubt every doctor would become better than they currently are if they experienced Healthcare from the other side of the transaction. No amount of care or understanding can quite match lived experience imo.
Itâs just insane how fucked up drug pricing is, not that it wasnât obvious.
I take an eyedrop once every three days, so fortunately, a tiny bottle lasts for months. The price changes every time I refill my prescription. With insurance, itâs ranged from $75 to $200+. This last time, it was $200+. The doctor also prescribed the generic (slightly different) version to see what that price would be. $400+ for twice the volume, so about the same.
But thatâs not even the dumbest part. I could just go online and get a coupon number from GoodRx and get that generic down to $140. So I could save around $300 just for thinking to go to the internet for 30 seconds.
I was also able to get a coupon from the name brandâs manufacturerâs website. Says I could get the price down to âas low asâ $25. Turned out it was $50. Again, just for clicking my mouse. So fucking stupid. People who just trust the doctor/insurance and donât think to look for a coupon (not even shopping for alternatives, just a coupon) pay a lot more.
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Thatâs an absurdly unfair take on that doctor.
Goodbye house.
Iâve heard good things about https://costplusdrugs.com/ but havenât had a chance to use it. May be worth a few clicks to see if you can find even more savings.
If I understand pvn correctly, the rape is not the important part of the analogy.
The point he is trying to make (I think) is that it is often very difficult to empathize with people in a tough spot unless they are in that spot themselves.
Given that she is a pediatrician and she makes it sounds like all of these things were major revelations to her (I canât imagine that they actually were, but one could certainly read it that way) then it sounds like she was not great at understanding how people in that position (parent of hospitalized child) feel until she was in that position herself.
This is despite the fact that she was presumably exposed to all of that from the doc side during her training (at least).
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Yeah, I think the problem is somewhere in here. I think the way you interpreted it was fine and closer to intended. But I think the alternative pvn-ish interpretation is not that unreasonable (i.e. she is talking like she just discovered this stuff).
I absolutely can imagine this.
itâs so standard that you donât even realize it until you get a doctor who actually understands that patients and their families are human beings.
so whatâs your theory here?
ah, yeah. âwomen are so emotionalâ ok. probably just âthat time.â jesus.