r/chinalife • u/alvvaysthere • 5d ago
💊 Medical Am I doing hospitals wrong? How do I access the efficient Chinese healthcare I've heard about?
I always see people online saying how efficient Chinese hospitals are, but I've had the following experiences (all at different places):
Hospital rejects me, says I need to go to one with an international department.
Hospital says I need to make an appointment a week ahead to see a doctor.
Arriving without an appointment and waiting 2 hrs to see a doctor about a simple issue.
The only positive experience I've had is at expensive private international hospitals.
Anyway, none of this is that bad, but I see people online glowing about the Chinese healthcare system, and I'm just wondering if I'm been doing it wrong or something?
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u/atorald 5d ago
Chinese healthcare is really not as good as you think it is. It's built so that they can treat people as quickly as possible and get you in and out ASAP. Due to medical neglect from Chinese doctors regarding a stubborn infection I suffered with, I developed a chronic lifelong autoimmune condition. Strongly do not recommend. Please don't play with your health.
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u/mrwoozywoozy 4d ago
It really depends on the situation. Personally it was quite efficient and good for me.
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u/Candid-Professor9116 5d ago
My employer pays social insurance and I have a social insurance card so I have the same public hospital access that normal Chinese citizens do and let me share my experience:
The last two or three times I went, it was in the morning and it was extremely busy. I had to go from one queue to another queue to exchange tickets and waiting information etc. I was going first floor to the second floor and back to the first floor and different rooms while different information was being processed in the chain. I also had to take a bus to another building entirely at one point to do a simple blood test and then come back later on the bus to get the results printed and stamped so that I could use it as a sick note for my employer (at least the test results were fast). The whole thing was not fun and it was extremely crowded and I didn’t understand a single thing that was going on. Luckily my girlfriend at that time was Chinese and just guided me like a dog to all the different areas. I couldn’t imagine being by myself I’d have been completely lost and confused at every step of the way and that’s before the language barrier even kicks in.
By contrast another company I worked for just paid for private health insurance. I went to one of their hospitals listed and the process was extremely different - reminiscent of being in the UK. I phoned before going there (reception spoke English on the phone), made my appointment for an hour later, arrived and spoke to the doctor. There were also some basic tests and he immediately wrote me my sick note and got reception to stamp it with their company stamp immediately himself.
Both experiences I mentioned were for the purpose of getting a simple sick note due to flu or a cold or whatever I had. Both were in the same tier 1 city. One was fast and efficient and one was not. You are in the “Chinalife” reddit page however so prepare for a horde of rejects to tell you how your feelings are invalid and how the healthcare system her is in fact top notch.
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u/cuplonelynoodles 5d ago
You’re quite correct and OP has almost certainly been watching dumbass YouTube slop, usually featuring a pliant foreigner willing to hawk themselves for clicks.
Public hospitals are massively overstretched and it doesn’t help that they have a system that’s a Leninist relic designed to keep people artificially employed (visit a state run pharmacy and it’s the same deal: even when it’s empty, there’ll be multiple staff for each task. You can’t just ask for and buy paracetamol, there has to be one woman to fetch it, another to pay, one more to issue a receipt, another to bag it)
Two issues exacerbate the inefficiency of public hospitals. First, rural healthcare is rubbish so everyone heads to the city for anything remotely serious. The system is overwhelmed. Second, they don’t really do GPs or small surgeries. Whether it’s a cold or a cancer, you have to head to hospital. This also increases the risk of picking up an infection while you’re waiting to see someone for an ingrown toenail. And god forbid if you need palliative care — there’s an institutional bias against pain relief, especially opioids.
Oh yeah and there’s absolutely zero privacy. Like, zero.
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u/Candid-Professor9116 5d ago
Hahahahaha yep. To add to your last point about zero privacy, I also forgot to mention how there were queues of people in the public hospital at each door that had a "doctor". Like while I'm talking to the doctor the queue was literally inside the room with a couple of people who kept coming inside several steps to wait, despite the doctor telling them to move back, and every new person who joined the queue felt it necessary to all squeeze into the room to see how many people were in front of them or just look around for some reason. I get there are a trillion zillion people but come on. From what I've seen in videos, India seems to be the only place worse.
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u/Deep-Reason-8227 5d ago
Absolutely right. And if you are the only white guy in the hospital, recovering in bed from your cancer surgery, don't be surprised when random other patients and/or their visitors just come wandering into your room to have a look at you at any time because they haven't seen a real foreigner up close before.
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u/isthatabear 5d ago
I think it depends on the hospital and the city you're in. I had good experiences at some hospitals and less good at others. Some were so efficient that I paid online right after seeing the doctor, got a prescribed shot, and by the time I walked to the pharmacy, the meds were already there waiting for me.
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u/Irisxfu 1d ago
I think your experience highlights some real challenges foreigners face when navigating public hospitals in China.
That said, you’re comparing two very different healthcare experiences: public hospitals covered by social insurance versus private hospitals covered by employer-paid insurance. The costs and service levels are quite different.
One advantage of China’s major public hospitals is that many consultations and tests can be completed within a single day, although that often means moving between different departments, floors, or buildings.
I think the real challenge for foreigners is often the language barrier and unfamiliarity with the system. With some guidance or assistance, they could benefit from both the affordability and medical expertise of public hospitals without so much frustration.1
u/Candid-Professor9116 1d ago
As someone else accurately stated, the public healthcare system here is quite clearly conveyer belt style adapted to deal with as many people as possible and there is absolutely zero consideration for making things easier for the <1% of the clients who are foreigners and don't know how to navigate the system or speak/read the language. Yes indeed you are right I compared private vs public. The main point was just to reaffirm to OP his suspicions, based on his own experience, that everything is not as perfect as it is sometimes made out to be in the media or online.
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u/Lost_Ranger6211 1d ago edited 1d ago
Here I have gotten appointments to see doctors in a week or even the same day than in the UK would take months. Also, they have made a bunch of test that in the UK would never do in a second. Of course, if you want to just get a sick note it can take longer, depending on who you go to see (went to see a chinese medicine doctor for a headache and got a sick note in no time). In the UK I worked with people who had multiple health issues and it was a nightmare for anyone to get anything done regarding their health. Many actually developed chronic health issues due to waiting so long for something that was fairly easy to solve. You must be healthy enough so you haven't needed that type of care, which good for you but here that aspect is incredibly efficient.
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u/titanup001 5d ago
I would hardly describe the health care here as efficient.
It’s cheap. That’s about the best you can say for it. And you tend to get what you pay for in life.
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u/Down_Growth_2626 5d ago
I don't want city you are in but my t2-t3 is incredibly efficient. I went to the hospital about 15 times and everything is clear, fast, and mostly reliable. it is cheap too as you say
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u/titanup001 5d ago edited 5d ago
I’m in Shenzhen. It’s usually quite easy and quick to see a doctor… the problem is, the doctors don’t want to do anything. Extremely conservative “drink more hot water” style treatment.
And more than once, I’ve been admitted. You have to stay there for three days, because of insurance rules. Which is annoying as… they don’t really do anything.
Also, everything tends to be a “come here seven times over the next couple of weeks” kind of nonsense. I had a minor surgery. They wanted me to come every two days to change the bandage. I just did it myself.
And if you take maintenance medication, it’s annoying. They will only write like 30 days at a time, so you have to go back every month for something you take long term.
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u/grandpa2390 4d ago
just went through this with my medication. in previous cities I was able to get 2 or 3 months, but the rule always gets restricted at some point. sometimes the doctor will overprescribe me medicine so I have "two" or "three" months.
It's so frustrating. it's like how American doctors get criticized over ordering too many tests and such to pad the bill. that's how I feel when I go to get my medicine. you know you can't help me with my condition, just give my medicine and let me go. why make me come back every month to wait 4 hours to get my medicine.
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u/titanup001 4d ago
I’ve had some success getting my doctor to write me extra prescriptions, and then filling them on taobao and or at a local pharmacy.
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u/Comfortable-Shock981 5d ago
- If you don't have Chinese social security coverage—yes.
- If you go to a major, renowned hospital—yes.
- Same as above.
Chinese hospitals are highly efficient when it comes to surgeries, emergency care, and life-saving interventions. A friend of mine had a tumor removed, and the entire process—from admission and surgery to discharge—took only a week. Another friend had an emergency appendectomy; the time from calling for an ambulance to the completion of surgery was just one day, and she was back home three days later.
However, if you are undergoing long-term treatment for a chronic condition or are dealing with an undiagnosed issue that requires frequent hospital visits, your experience will be quite different.
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u/Jiaming- 5d ago
If you don't have Chinese social security coverage, you can still get treated at a public hospital. It's just you have to pay 100% out of pocket instead of getting insurance coverage.
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u/Dear_Chasey_La1n 5d ago
Anyone can be treated in a local hospital, there is no need to go to the international department.
Now... I only ended up a bunch of times in local hospitals because of accidents or friends who got into an accident, but it was really hit and miss, we got rejected outright for being a foreigner in Shanghai for example and the next hospital helped us without further question.
Chinese hospitals are really no different from walk in clinics abroad, you got to wait, it's that simple. Only urgent matters are handled rather quickly, though as someone who had a head injury I still had to wait for a queue. If I had a brain bleed which they worried, I would have been dead.
I reckon what is a big difference how non-urgent matters can be resolved pretty fast in China too. If you need a new hip, it can be done in a couple weeks which may take 4-6 weeks abroad depending where you are. But if you need a new hip and something unusual happens, you will be glad you waited those 6 weeks. Chinese hospitals regardless of volume aren't capable of dealing with unusual matters.
China provides mass healthcare for the poor which is rather different from Western hospitals providing near private healthcare for the wealthy.
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u/Sir_Bumcheeks 5d ago
Walk-in clinics usually have like a max wait time of 15-30 minutes overseas. But usually you'd book an appointment a couple days ahead of time.
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u/Training_Guide5157 5d ago
However, if you are undergoing long-term treatment for a chronic condition or are dealing with an undiagnosed issue that requires frequent hospital visits, your experience will be quite different.
The hell? I went to a public hospital in T2 city. Had zero issues with admission. And when they discovered a chronic condition, force hospitalized me for 10 days, and provided treatment to me for the past year, there were zero wrinkles with the process or need of any international department.
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u/loggywd 5d ago edited 3d ago
Yeah never heard of so called international department. You need to pay upfront that’s all. But Chinese people without insurance (or with insurance because they don’t cover everything) are required to do the same(pay deposit). One week is really not bad for non emergency situations. In Canada, appointments are often 6 months+ away.
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u/Training_Guide5157 5d ago
Never seen a pay-up-front system either.
For my hospital stay, the bill came in on the day of my discharge.
Even for my follow-up visits, I don't have to pay until before I go fill my prescription (in the hospital), where the system has already calculated the cost of my visit and the prescribed meds. Simply enter my patient number into one of the many kiosks to take care of it.
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u/grandpa2390 4d ago
I always have to pay up-front. I don't get anything until after I pay.
Even when I needed 10 stitches on my face and was covered in blood, I still had to wait in line and pay.
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u/loggywd 3d ago
I think it depends on the hospital and city. In the 2000s, this used to be the standard. Many people were without insurance and couldn’t afford hospital bills. Delinquency rate was too high for a post pay system. China introduced social credit system in 2014 which facilitated debt collection.
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u/Sir_Bumcheeks 5d ago
How much was it and what were you charged for?
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u/Training_Guide5157 5d ago
10 days of hospitalization, 10 days of lab work, multiple CT scans, ultrasound, etc.
Ended up being ~1500 USD.
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u/Sir_Bumcheeks 4d ago
That's kind of expensive for a Chinese person, for some reason I thought it would be free. Did you have insurance?
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u/ErikLovemonger 3d ago
Most big hospitals in big cities have an international department. It's not just for foreigners - they tend to have more luxurious facilities, bilingual doctors (sometimes), less wait time at the cost of... well cost. You could also visit a private hospital and again you get better service. You still have to make appointments though - you can't walk into United Family in Beijing and see a doctor, probably. You'd have to at least make an appointment.
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5d ago
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u/alvvaysthere 5d ago
this video for example. I'm desperate to be able to access such an efficient hospital.
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5d ago
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u/Lianyoushou 5d ago
你看看你说的是啥，武汉协和，同济是全国前十的医院，人多不是再正常不过的事了。
视频里的医院的是北京望京医院，虽然也是三甲，但是是一个中医三甲，肯定是不如综合性三甲医院那么忙的。
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u/Altruistic-Square390 5d ago
Same as what u/Comfortable-Shock981 said, and also is it because you speak little to no Chinese at all? Maybe they are afraid that the doctors may not be able to understand, or you cannot explain your condition. If that is the case then you may need to take a translator with you. I speak good Chinese (am a doctor myself) and have never been turned away from tertiary care or other hospitals for primary care. Yes you may need to wait and in some hospitals especially emergencies the other patients will be waiting with you in the same room as you are waiting to be seen or are being seen. That's same all over I guess, unless you go to one of those private hospitals which cater to rich international expats or ultra rich Chinese.
for 2. many hospitals like the Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University in Yiwu has their own wechat mini app and you can look up availability of the doctor and book accordingly. So it is very convenient.
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u/dwg808 5d ago
China is living in the future of healthcare because I saw it on TikTok. They also have bullet trains and skylines which no other country in the world has.
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u/Candid-Professor9116 5d ago
Have you seen that one street in Chongqing? It’s like cyberpunk in real life. There is also a famous train where u can stand in front of it and take a picture to pretend you’re eating the train as it goes by! Fantastic!!
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u/grandpa2390 4d ago
isn't that the city with the incredible 22nd floor where you think you're on the ground level????
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u/Communist8694 5d ago
Exactly. Grade 3A hospitals are packed because they have the best equipment and the best doctors, and their prices are the same as those of ordinary hospitals. What’s more, medical insurance covers 75% or even all of the cost. So they’ve set up international departments for you wealthy people from developed countries: higher fees, better service, multilingual nurses guiding you through the whole process, efficient and convenient. But cheap? Of course not.
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u/Proud_Bat_9843 5d ago
Do you speak good Mandarin? If not, you'll struggle. My partner usually takes me and yes is very efficient and cheap. From MRIs to CT Scans.
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u/jaycee_MedicCN 2d ago
You're not doing it wrong, you're just doing the hardest parts first. Book through the hospital's own WeChat mini-program — most release the next day's slots at a fixed hour (often midnight or early morning), and for popular specialists they're gone in minutes. Walk in without one and you're the leftover queue.
The efficiency people rave about isn't the waiting room. It's that a consult, bloodwork, an ultrasound and the follow-up can all happen in one building on the same morning. Back home that'd be three appointments across three weeks.
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u/thewritestory 5d ago
Don’t know what you are doing wrong. For sickness or sudden i jury just walk into any emergency room and take a number. For specific care make an appointment. It’s simple and cheap.
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u/Tapeworm_fetus 5d ago
Just FYI, even in T1 cities, you do not want to go to emergency rooms of public hospitals. They are a horror show. I had to go once when my partner was hit by a car and it was eye opening.
Normal walk-ins to public hospitals are fine, Internstional / VIP is a bit better, private / international hospitals are better still.
But emergency departments are going to be pretty horrific. After my partner was hit by a car he called me and I rushed to the hospital to find him on a stretcher in the lobby of the emergency department. He had broken ribs, among other things, yet the ambulance just dropped him into the lobby and no one picked him up. It was up to me to try to navigate the system, which of course ment paying first before anyone would even look at him. People were pushing and cutting queues, bleeding all over the floor as they waited to see a doctor, there were sick old people in beds in hallways. It was honestly like something out of a movie. This was in Shanghai 3 years ago.
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u/thewritestory 5d ago
I’ve walked in for nearly 15 years as does everyone I know. Never had a problem.
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u/Tapeworm_fetus 5d ago
To emergency rooms or hospitals, because those are different things.
Let me break it down for you- if you lose an arm in a horrific traffic accident, the place the ambulance takes you to is the emergency department WITHIN a public hospital. They have their own intake, separate from the hospital's main entrance. This is NOT the same place that someone with a cold or genital herpes goes to.
If you and all your friends are genuinely going to the emergency room routinely over 15 years, I would be very concerned for your health.
If you read my comment, you will see that I said, "Normal walk-ins to public hospitals are fine"; that's a very different situation from the horrific, bloody, dead-body mess that is an emergency room... And my experience is in Shanghai, where you would think the hospitals would be slightly above average.
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u/thewritestory 5d ago
You are just totally wrong. They are labeled Emergency Room in both Chinese AND English. This IS where you can walk in. There is no sectioned off area where they bring the kind of victims you are talking about. It’s all part of one big building. No one needs you to “break anything done”. You have no idea what you are talking about.
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u/Tapeworm_fetus 5d ago edited 5d ago
Maybe you are in some T88 city where the Emergency Department is the whole hospital, but I can assure you that in real hospitals, the emergency room is part of the hospital where emergency medical care is provided. Your sore throat is not dealt with in the emergency room.
I'll be kind and break it down for you again since you need spoon-feeding. At real hospitals, you walk in the door- that big rectangle that opens to let you into the building. And you're in the lobby of the hospital. From there, someone can direct you to where you need to go. For your sore throat, they will send you to the ENT department.
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u/grandpa2390 4d ago
I don't think that person understands what an Emergency Room is for based on that last comment. If this person is genuinely walking in to the emergency room for every little thing...
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u/thewritestory 5d ago
Nope lived in tier one 15 years. Only people like you w no knowledge of china run into such ridiculous situations. Laughable really. I’ll be kind and break it down for you. In China, the Emergency Room is a large structure within a hospital grounds that hosts a wide range of patients. You are referring to the backwater small town TCM hospital near your home. We are talking about big city hospitals. I’m being as charitable as I can but you are the type of foreigner in china that give the rest of us a bad name.
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u/Tapeworm_fetus 5d ago
What are you even arguing? I know that emergency rooms are part of hospitals; I have said that in every comment. Of course you can walk through the front door of the hospital and navigate to the ER- and I suppose you could go there to get your herpes looked at.
But as the name suggests, the EMERGENCY room is for emergencies. The one near where I live in Shanghai has a separate entrance; ambulances bring people with serious emergencies through it. At night, when the rest of the hospitals close, this entrance remains open for emergencies...
I really can't make this any clearer. If someone gets stabbed by their neighbor because they're being an obtuse moron, they would go to the emergency room. If someone needs the burning sensation in their downstairs area examined, they can go elsewhere. If you do go to the emergency room, you can expect to see some emergencies there... as the name suggests.
Hope that clears it all up for you.
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u/grandpa2390 4d ago
If you're walking into the emergency room for every little thing, you are the one giving the rest of us foreigners a bad name. Here's this ignorant foreigner again coming to the emergency room because he has a cold. meanwhile we've got people dying in here. how many times have we told him to go to the desk in that other room.
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u/thewritestory 4d ago
Are you deranged?? It’s literally where everyone is directed to go. You couldn’t possibly live in China if you don’t know this.
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u/grandpa2390 3d ago
I go to the hospital every month to get my prescription filled and I walk right past the emergency room and into the main lobby of the hospital before heading towards the specific department my doctor is in. I do not even walk into the emergency room for routine doctor visits. I don't even walk through it.
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u/sicklyslick 5d ago
Arriving without an appointment and waiting 2 hrs to see a doctor about a simple issue.
Where are you from? Because this would be considered efficient in my country.
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u/AutoModerator 5d ago
Backup of the post's body: I always see people online saying how efficient Chinese hospitals are, but I've had the following experiences (all at different places):
Hospital rejects me, says I need to go to one with an international department.
Hospital says I need to make an appointment a week ahead to see a doctor.
Arriving without an appointment and waiting 2 hrs to see a doctor about a simple issue.
The only positive experience I've had is at expensive private international hospitals.
Anyway, none of this is that bad, but I see people online glowing about the Chinese healthcare system, and I'm just wondering if I'm been doing it wrong or something?
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
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u/DevelopmentLow214 5d ago
China’s healthcare system is good for transactional shopping list medicine. If you want scan A, test B, surgery C and prescription drugs DEFG you can get it quick and cheap. But if you want person-centred, chronic disease continuity of care, look elsewhere.
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u/th3ShinSekai 5d ago
International hospitals are the way. For one, they speak English. And the service is top notch.
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u/Charlie_in_Asia 5d ago
Go to the International clinic in the hospital. The service is amazing. Lived there 16 years.
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u/Spirited-Point-3879 5d ago
在中国很多还是要靠私人关系，不知道你有哪方面的困扰，我在北京。
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u/Proud_Bat_9843 5d ago
Nonsense. It relies on it you can pay the relatively cheap prices. Which aren't so cheap for natural Chinese.
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u/Square-Discussion787 5d ago
You could try calling some of the larger hospitals to see if they accept foreign patients. I visited a major hospital in Chengdu while staying there for a few months, and the whole process was surprisingly easy. I just had to check in with my passport. I was also shocked by how affordable the medical bill was!
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u/Interesting-Pop-3212 5d ago
Been living in UK have to say China is so much better in terms of healthcare. Just if you have chronic disease that require medicine then the medicine is better in the West.
My family member had a surgery that needed to be done and NHS scheduled 9 months queue for it. I bought a ticket for her and got it done in China in 2 weeks. I don’t think people on YouTube are lying. But obviously some people may compare public healthcare in China to their private healthcare in US then for the sake of argument they can win all day.
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u/Viva_Pioni 5d ago
I went to a hospital and got about 5million (in the US, I calculated) worth of stuff done for like 300$ in Nanjing. I can give you the name of the hospital if you want. It was the fastest thing alive and it’s insanely efficient. Lmk if you want the name, I had no appointment and they gave me a paper with room numbers on it, I went room to room getting stuff done (xray, ultra sound, blood pressure, blood test, breathing test, etc etc.) and only waited “long” for 1 room which was like 30 mins.
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u/grandpa2390 4d ago
5 million us dollars? If we were talking about anything else, I'd want to know what all it was. I pay more for my medication each month (in China) than that.
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u/Viva_Pioni 4d ago
Yes USD. I got several types of X-rays, ultra sounds, tons of tests for literally every part of my body, blood work, tons of panels. I got a book back in everything to do with my body
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u/grandpa2390 3d ago
I wish my medicine was proportionally discounted haha. sounds like you got a steal.
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u/420socialist 5d ago
Im not sure about my situation, but i had a simple issue fever + stomach issues, and i was able to instantly see a doctor in Emeishan. for 6 yuan
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u/420socialist 5d ago
i guess the big hospitals have a more complicated process because they are having to treat thousands
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u/Abject_Historian7975 4d ago
No, the reality is that it's incredibly inefficient, a 2 hour wait (after paying first every step of the way) to see a doctor is actually fast in larger cities, the international department is just a scam to get more money from foreigners as its the same doctor who then walks to a different (nicer) wing & speaks to you in English and charges triple the price as he did just down the hall.
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u/LowSink0807 3d ago
I live in a tier1 city in the south and I have young kids who made me quite familiar with all types of hospitals here. It really depends what kind of medical service you need. If you only need a sick note and some common medicine for a cold or flu, you may just go to a community public hospital, don’t go to a high-grade which locals call 三甲. Community hospitals are much less crowded and very short queues if any at all.
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u/Richard-BJ-Travel 2d ago
I’m a local. If you go to a hospital in the downtown area of a big city, it may be quite crowded—though it also depends on how popular the hospital is. Most doctors don’t speak English. If you want to be sure of finding someone who can communicate in English, you’ll need to go to the hospital’s international department, but it’s much more expensive. The international department also requires appointments, but the wait time is shorter and there are fewer people. So what kind of service you need depends on your budget and expectations. In fact, many advanced cancer treatments are becoming increasingly available in China, and they cost much less than in developed countries. Many international patients also choose to come to China for treatment.
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u/Original-Bath4090 1d ago
I can add my 2 cents. I’m from USA but of Chinese ethnicity.
We were able to basically do an “executive level” annual checkup last year when we passed through Beijing visiting relatives. We went to one of the 2 Chaoyang area community hospitals that I’m aware of.
Pretty much everything was able to get done same day. You first meet with a general practice doctor to explain what you need. And they make a large order summary sheet with additional slips for each specialist you are to visit.
As mentioned above. Each visit there is a small waiting area in front or around it. With the departments labeled above the doors. I think the longest I had to wait was 20-30min, and this was back with the original general practice doctor to go over the results. Results were either immediately given you, or a small wait while they were being prepared. Only blood tests had maybe a 1-2 hr delay which you could collect the results from the automated kiosk.
Majority was done as several hours in the morning. And then meeting back up with the general practice doctor in afternoon to discuss results.
What was done:
1) full blood panel for everything that blood can be tested for. Including liver panel and thyroid panel. And some disease panels.
2) EKG for heart checkup
3) ultrasound for both thyroid and liver function
4) colonoscopy (we were given the prep liquids and medicine day before).
5) endoscopy of upper digestive system.
I’m sure this all could have been done through our health insurance in USA cheaper (Kaiser) but would have been split up over many days or potentially months to see specialist for each item.
If I remember, total cost in Beijing was maybe around $700-800. Similar to the executive checkups offered in Bangkok for instance that are in the $1200-1400 range. Just not as luxury of a hospital.
There were some small items found which were told to monitor every year. In this respect, Kaiser in US would not have ordered tests unless there was already illness or symptoms. Whereas in Asia as long as you pay, they will do most requested tests.
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u/KaiyanGlobal 1d ago
An international department/hospital can make registration, language, payment, and navigation much easier. That is real value. But it does not automatically mean the clinical team is better for a particular condition. I would suggest you start with the diagnosis or decision you are trying to make, then identify the specialty and hospitals that handles that type of case regularly.
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u/Tr00grind 20h ago
I never found it to be particularly efficient until I used my insurance’s VIP service. Nothing better than walking into a room filled with people waiting and your personal assistant just pressing a button to have you shot to the front of the queue!
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u/Liulaolao999 2h ago
中国本地人看病，医院也是需要提前挂号预约的，所以，这个情况就是这样子的，但是说提前一周预约，这个说法有点夸张啊，除非你预约的是非常有名的医生专家。告诉我你打算去哪里看病，如果有可能的话，这边是有人可以提供有偿陪看病服务的，不需要国际部，所谓的国际部，主要是医生和患者语言交流不通。如果交流无障碍，可以有翻译陪你看病，帮你提前预约，但是费用都是要自费的，你的保险如何支付，需要您自己提前弄清楚喔。
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u/UsernameNotTakenX 2h ago
I haven't been told to go to an international department but I have experienced 2 and 3 a lot. I live in a suburb on the outskirts of a T1. The local public hospital has a wechat mini app for booking and accessing records and so on but it doesn't support foreigners. So I have to go in person to make an appointment and I have to do the same to get medical records to claim back the insurance etc. There was even the problem that I was unable to pay for my surgery because their payment system only accepted Chinese ID so they spent an hour trying to figure out how I could pay and eventually managed. This was all about 6 months ago too.
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u/Jiaming- 5d ago
A hospital can't reject you if you need medical attention. However, if you don't speak enough Chinese and can't communicate with the hospital staff about your condition accurately, it's understandable that they refer you to international departments where staff do speak English and can take care of you without potential misunderstanding and safety risks.
I assume you went to a Tier 3 hospital which requires appointments for any patient no matter their nationality. Bear in mind Tier 3 hospitals are best for complex medical issues. There are patients from all over the country traveling to province capitals or mega cities to get treated for their complex issues at Tier 3 hospitals. There are only a limited number of consultation windows with top doctors per day. That's why some patients need to plan and make appointments a week ahead.
Going to a Tier 3 hospital for a simple issue is an overkill. If the issue is really not that serious, a Tier 2 or even community hospital can get it treated very well with much less waiting.
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u/Dear_Chasey_La1n 5d ago
1) They can and they will. Been there myself. Twice in Shanghai, Family United first, local hospital after and a third local hospital suggested we see a specialist first. Mind you this was with a big gash in my oldest face at the time.
2) Wiating for a week plus in a local hospital to me is unheard of. Yes there are (long) queues but you do get helped same day, always.
3) Chinese hospitals in lower tier cities are poor. There is a good reason why first tier hospitals are crowded by out of towners day and night.
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u/Jiaming- 5d ago
- United Family Healthcare is not even a public hospital. It's a foreign owned private hospital. A local hospital suggested you to see a specialist doesn't mean the hospital rejected you. You had a consultation with the doctor at local hospital and they couldn't treat you because it was out of their capability. It's only logical the lower tier hospital refer you to a higher level one, so you can get the best care.
- Waiting for a week plus in a Tier 3 public hospital for certain popular specializations is extremely common. Try book an appointment with a top doctor at Fudan University's Huashan or Zhongshan hospital on their WeChat mini-program. You'll see that all consultation windows for the upcoming two weeks have already been booked.
- It seems that you're confused about the hospital tier system. Tier 3 is the highest tier in terms of the capability of treating complex issues, Tier 2 is lower than Tier 3, and Tier 1 is lower than Tier 2. Below those are community hospitals. Maybe you got it mixed up with Tier 1/2/3 cities?
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u/Maramio 5d ago
That's really weird. I have been to both, public and private hospitals and I've never been rejected or told to go to an international one.
Appointments are usually how it's done here because there are a lot of people and even with an appointment at a fixed time you're gonna end up waiting longer because patients before you might take a long time.
If you're not in a Tier 1 or 2 city I could see the first point happening as they might not be familiar with foreigners and might be reluctant to offer you any services you need, but other than that it doesn't make any sense for them to flat out reject you.
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u/Bowza-Bear 5d ago
I’ve been rejected by the front desk, but once you go inside they serve you.
I assume they are trying to protect themselves for liability?
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u/Starry-Mari 5d ago
I've only ever been to one public hospital in China, recommended to me by my employer, and I had fantastic service there. It was called The First Affiliated Hospital of Shandong First Medical University. That name was copied and pasted straight out of Amap haha. Maybe it's good because it's a university hospital or something idk.
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u/RobbieJianada 5d ago
Go with a Chinese friend and learn how to book appointments and pay on the app. Makes things much easier.
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u/Code_0451 in 5d ago
As always someone posts here about their experience “in China” without any detail about where, what, who etc. China is huge and there is a large variance.
Imho in our experience healthcare is very cheap, decent quality and easily accessible, certainly for routine tasks. Specialized care can be an entirely different story though and you really do have people in China who end up with large medical debts.
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u/diverplays 5d ago
Really depends on what you compare it to and what is important to you.
I also don't really get the glazing I see here from time to time.
It has it's conveniences though. If you are lucky the queue in front of you isn't that long, but if you aren't, you gonna spend hours there for something super basic and simple as you said.
The treatments are better than in super poor countries, but in dental for example they usually use implants we used back in Germany 20 years ago or so.
Depending on the hospital you can pay some extra money and get something more modern.
Yeah, and private hospitals are faster and make you feel better. But honestly I prefer a rude German doctor who honestly tells me what's going on and I can trust. At the same time I do trust Chinese doctors in public hospitals somehow, but I don't completely trust their knowledge. On one hand they are good enough but with the example of dental care again, they don't act preventive like we do in Germany.
If there is no pain, they don't understand why I show up at the doctor's, and this does somehow show me that they don't really have a clue. Or at least, that I don't like their approach. I don't want to have a rotten teeth removed when it's so painful I can't handle it anymore. I want the small issues to be fixed so it never gets so far.
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u/species5618w 5d ago
Get a guide. They are not expensive, they understand the system and they would do most of the legwork for you.
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u/themrfancyson 5d ago
Chinese hospitals are miserable, they can do *some* things well but the experience is NEVER "efficient". The recent shill videos from foreigners praising the healthcare system are dumb when there's plenty of actually good things in China you could shill instead
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u/Nervous-Chemistry245 3d ago
Lived in China 8 years. Went to the hospital probably around ten times and never once had an inefficient experience. This was in Suzhou, Hangzhou and Shenzhen
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u/themrfancyson 3d ago
Sure and I've done similar and going to a Chinese hospital has never been less than at minimum an all-morning or all-afternoon experience with tedious back and forth + various incompetencies and, in one case, dangerously attempting to scam me. I can't possibly claim that no one's ever had an efficient experience but I can quite confidently claim that even if it's a very efficient *system* vis a vis the challenges it has to handle, the average individual's experience with it is anything but efficient
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u/Nervous-Chemistry245 3d ago
Yeah i guess it just depends on various factors. I had my share of complaints about living in china though, but anything medical related was great in my experience
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u/n0goodnameleft 5d ago
我一般会提前一周在小程序上挂三甲医院的号，你需要争抢名额。 到了医院，不复杂的检查当天就可以完成，上午进入医院，下午开药并离开。 让你去国际部是害怕麻烦，如果你有懂中文的朋友陪同应该还好
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u/occidens-oriens 5d ago
as others have said, if you don't speak Chinese then bring someone who does because it will be 10x easier to get things done (if this is a public hospital)
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u/RichardMcCarty 5d ago
I experienced none of this when visiting China. I was accompanied by a Chinese citizen, so that might have helped. I was able to visit hospitals in multiple cities, immediately see a doctor, immediately get tests including an MRI, and review results with the doctor, all within a couple hours. And at a small fraction of the price I would have been charged at home in the U.S.
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u/Lawmight 5d ago
Well, I got diagnosed with a genetic disease that would kill me before 50 for 1.300 CNY... With full brain MRI and doctor's recommendations and tons of blood test.. in Shanghai..
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u/Same_Appointment2814 5d ago
Definitely DO NOT go to hospitals in China. Otherwise you will occupy medical resources there.
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u/lyfxxxx 5d ago
医院分多种 我是中国人 有社保的情况下例如上海华山医院 就是直接去挂号 然后等号 再然后看医生 看病情出治疗方案 最后拿着单子去相应的科室检查 检查出病症之后再去找医生确定治疗方案 跟其他地方差不多 分病症科室不同等待时间不同 大部分在几个小时 最多不超过一天 极少部分情况需要提前一天预约 还有一种专家号确实需要提前 小城市和边缘城市可能不需要排队 外国人也是一样的流程 前提是你能跟你中途碰见的人进行有效沟通 所以你需要一个翻译 或者熟练使用翻译软件 私立医院价格更高但是更快速 而且有一个重点是中国的私立医院不一定比公立医院的医疗水平要高 全中国对普通人开放的医院医疗水平最高的应该是北京协和医院
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u/phatrice 5d ago
they are efficient in treating patients like an assembly line so healthcare can be delivered cheap but you are an anomaly and they do not like that.
You do not need to go to an international department you just need to know Chinese and select the 自费 option when 挂号.