Remembering our first hospital trip

It has been several weeks since we visited the hospital, but I have been meaning to write about it.

First off, had we not both been sick at the time, I think I can safely say we would have thoroughly enjoyed the visit. It was the picture of efficiency and quality care. I hope that some day the U.S. can upgrade to such a system.

Here's how it worked:

We walked in the door and were greeted by friendly volunteers who quickly busied themselves with other people. I suspect the thought of helping a pair of barely-standing foreigners who may or may not know any Japanese was a bit intimidating. Beyond the volunteers was a wide open room with lots of comfortable seating (like enough for at least 100, maybe 200 people) and some front desks. One desk said "First time patient" in English under the Japanese, so we went there. The lady directed us to the forms near the entrance that we needed to fill out since it was our first visit. We filled out the forms and returned them to her. She had us sit down and in about 10 minutes she had made Russell a card with his name and registration number and she directed him to take it to the internal medicine room.

In a row along one end of the hospital were a variety of different kinds of doctors. Internal medicine, ear nose and throat, heart, etc. We went to internal medicine, gave them Russell's card , filled out a form about the reason for the visit, and sat down again. After about another 10-15 minutes they called him back and he was shown to a doctor behind a curtain (there was a row of curtains in the back room.) The doctor looked over his symptoms, did doctory things, chatted with Russell a bit about why he was living in Kobe, how he liked it, etc, and then told him he probably had a stomach virus but they would run some blood tests to be sure. Russell was sent down the hall to have his blood drawn.

In the blood drawing room he walked right up, stuck out his arm, got his blood drawn and was told to check back in with internal medicine in about 40 minutes and the tests would be in. After about 30 minutes, the nurse from internal medicine came looking for Russell (since he had been easy to spot). Russell went back to talk to the doctor again and was told what the blood tests had shown (pretty much what was expected) and Russell was prescribed medication.

Through all these steps, Russell had a blue folder that he took to each station. Each station would add information and paperwork and send it to the next destination. At the end, we took the folder to the processing window and put it in the appropriately marked box. After about 10 minutes Russell's name was called (with about 10 others) to pay the cashier (his bill had been prepared). "Paying the cashier" meant getting in line for one of four ATM-like machines, entering his registration number and paying the balance for his visit. The balance included the cost of the doctor, blood work and prescription.

Since Russell has to claim all doctors expenses with his insurance in the US, his total was the same as an uninsured Japanese person - and still only came to $160. After we had paid, we sat down again to wait for his prescription, but then realized that the number that had printed on the receipt - the number we were to use to claim his prescription - had already been posted on the electronic pharmacy board. We claimed the prescription and went home. All together, it took about two hours. A lot of that was because it was Russell's first visit and he had to wait for blood work.

Considering we had to do all of this in a foreign language, and while both of us were sick, we expected the worst. We were very thankful to find that things were made as simple as possible for us. I liked that the doctor stays in one place and the patients go to them. I also liked that the front desk finds out what your problem is and sends you to someone who specializes in that general area (though the doctors aren't specialists in the same way doctors specialize in the US, from what I hear). I liked that the lines were short and the doctor unhurried. And I LOVED that the full cost was so low. I am definitely won over to socialized medicine.