I have recently had to use the medical system twice for serious conditions.
I have a heart condition that I was unaware of until end of September.
That was a bit hit & miss- I was ill & my BP was going crazy so I went into the ER- I was admitted immediately- but they only did electrocardiogram and the basics & let me home as soon as my BP was under control. I asked for blood tests, they refused them.
The ER dr wrote up GERD as a diagnosis.
I knew for damn sure this was not a gastric thing so I followed it up & went back to the same hospital the next day and saw the cardiology team- they were as different as chalk & cheese with the ER team. The Cardio team did a full screening of lipids etc.further ECG and also the echocardiogram and a CT angiogram scan (I think this was about 5 or 6 million IDR) & we were pretty sure I would be in need of stents from all the data that was coming back- anyway...not so.
The upshot is that I had an angiography (cost -expensive if private probably around 100 million if multiple stents needed. On BPJS - nil) which revealed that my arteries are not blocked but that there is something weird with one of the chambers of my heart. Medication & good luck is my treatment. My diagnosis/treatment with the cardio team was a mix of paid & BPJS the attention I received from them was consistently good and with the same team- no discrimination about payment methods.
(As I am registered with BPJS- the cardiologist told me to get the BPJS set up so that I could get this procedure done & paid for by the BPJS system. I did that- it was a bit of a pain in the arse & when one's number in the queue is 900+ it does get a bit soul destroying- sitting waiting out the best part of a day to get documents stamped & Is dotted & Ts crossed & all entered into the computer system. This in itself involved going to our local puksesmas to get a referral to the hospital they use, then to that hospital to get re-referred to the one I was dealing with- doable but as already mentioned took the best part of a day sat on hard metal hospital benches( hint & tip- take a newspaper or a cushion- however worth it- just keep in mind the tens of millions of IDR one is not going to have to pay out to help keep spirits up!)
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I am currently suffering from double pneumonia.
Because of the heart condition I found myself to have a wonderful cardiology team, they spoke in English with me and have been very thorough in diagnosis. I even have their WA numbers & they have responded promptly to any messages I sent.
So, when I was very unwell, I asked one of them if they would recommend a doctor for me to see re the (pneumonia) issue. I was given 3 names.
I saw one of these doctors yesterday, she was also excellent, she communicated in very good English and was very thorough in her diagnosis.
Due to the BPJS online booking system being screwed up (or me being to dumb to figure it out properly- it did seem far too easy), I ended up paying for this. I could have gone home again & re-booked & gone back in, however, I was so sick that I just wanted to get the whole thing over & done with. I was shocked at how cheap it actually was- the consultation & the chest x-ray cost less that 500,000 IDR.
The medications I need are expensive though & they came to more than 1 million for 2 weeks prescription. As I have double pneumonia topped off with a severe asthma episode I figure the overall cost 9to date) of 1,8 million was not excessive.
Apologies for the essay-like post, I just figured that I would share my experience as it involves a mix of BPJS & private treatment. I know many people will have private insurance but I know some don't.
I just want to say that with a little navigating and persistence it is possible to get good treatment. Even if one pays it isn't always that expensive.
One important thing that I did learn is that bacterial pneumonia here is resistant to amoxicillin (cos I took a full course of that 2-3 weeks ago)- and given recent news articles re China I hope my post is useful/helpful .