Vietnamese Healthcare System

I apologize for my blog being posted late this week… perhaps the content of the blog will explain.

After having a lingering cold for a week I was hit by some kind of infection this Tuesday. The lymph node in my throat started to swell painfully and within a few hours I had spiked a 102 fever. Fun times. Luckily the wonderful Chi Moc took me to the doctors where I got medicine and an interesting window into the differences between the Vietnamese and American Healthcare systems. I’ve mainly recovered although I still have fairly limited energy. Good thing I’m not going to Sepa this weekend.

One of the most striking differences was the way medical privacy was handled. Chi Moc was allowed to come with me into all of the various places we went (much to my relief) with no questions asked. She was allowed to read my paperwork and know what prescriptions I was receiving. In the US I have to sign paperwork allowing my own parents to view my medical record because I’m over 18… even though they are the ones paying. It was a relief to not have to worry about such ridiculously strict rules, although I suppose if I was there for an STD or something I would have felt differently. I was also often in the same room as other patients. The waiting room in the private clinic we went to was also used for medical procedures like clearing people’s sinuses with pressurized air (which I got to see). In the US all of the procedures are done in separate rooms so that nobody knows what your at the doctors for.

Another interesting difference was that we went directly to a doctor that specialized in ear nose and throat medicine. In fact the entire hospital specialized in those three things. In the US you always go to see a primary care physician who then sends you to a specialist if something needs further testing. It was kind of nice to skip the primary care physician and go straight to where I needed to be. However I can imagine cases where you could think one thing was wrong and go to the wrong doctor who would give an improper diagnosis because they only specialize in one thing. It also leaves a lot more guesswork to the patient. Chi Moc spent a significant amount of time trying to figure out what was wrong with me so that she could take me to the right doctor.

However the most striking difference was the cost of the healthcare and the way it was paid for. Everything was paid for in cash up front. Pictures of the inside of my ear nose and throat, a cell culture from my throat and three prescription drugs came to… 850,000 vnd or $42.50. While Chi Moc was busy being shocked at how expensive the price was, I was floored by how cheep it was. Chi Moc said she had rarely paid more then 200,000 for a doctors visit ($10). For me I’ve never gotten into a doctor’s office for that little money. Furthermore that was probably some of the most through healthcare I could have received. In the states they probably would have shined a flashlight down my throat, prescribed me antibiotics and been done with it. And it would have cost me WAY more. The medications alone probably would have cost that much. And I would have had to deal with a total insurance headache afterwards. Of course to really understand what the cost of medical care is here I would need to know how that compares to an average person’s income. Certainly something I want to learn more about.