Stressed about Doctors' Fees

I am a newly pregnant expat living in HK and I'm feeling a little overwhelmed about doctors' fees and which doctor to go with. I have a short list of doctors, which includes Lucy Lord and Christine Choy. I've looked at their pregnancy care packages: one seems quite comprehensive but expensive, the other is less expensive but doesn't include certain tests which I'll probably want to have done. There's so much information to look over, and so many fees involved, that I'm just kind of confused about the big picture. How likely is it that I will spend more on my doctor's bill than what the package states? Why is it that I have to pay the doctor more money if I want to book a hospital room to myself? Have any expats gone the public hospital route and had a good experience? I would really appreciate any info anyone can give me. Thanks.

It can be all a bit daunting. I will be at the medical and health expo in Wanchai today but if you want to discuss anything please feel free to give me a call from tomorrow.


Lynne 28490328

Matilda International Hospital

Hong Kong

http://www.matilda.org

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Unfortunately, not all problems can be diagnosed before birth. One good thing about going public is that you would get world class care without worrying about costs.


My baby had to surgery 36 hours he was born and stayed in the NICU for 10 days afterwards. My bill would have cost $50,000 had bubs been transferred from a private hospital but instead all I paid was $1,500 for exactly the same care.


I couldn't decide between the public and private systems for the longest time (I also saw a private obgyn throughout my pregnancy) but after this experience, I would definitely choose public again the next time round.

Thank you to everyone who replied. It sounds as if I should look into using a public hospital. In fact, I do live near Queen Mary. For those of you who have used a public hospital before, how did you feel about not seeing the same doctor with every visit? When you actually gave birth, did you find the doctor and the nurses attentive? Has anyone reserved a private room at a public hospital and found that it was worth it to do that? Was it very expensive?

Thanks again for your help.

I didn't register with the public system until after my 22 week scan because I didn't want to see a different doctor every appointment. Instead, I saw a private doctor right up until I gave birth, and brought my records to the Queen Mary with me when I was admitted. If you are thinking about going public but want the reassurance and consistency of private care, this is a good way to balance the two systems.


The care given during delivery at the QM is excellent but definitely no frills. The docs and midwives are very experienced and professional, but they definitely won't hold your hand and tell you that you are wonderful! (But then hopefully you will have hubby on hand for that...)


Going private at a public hospital would cost the same as going private all the way. This means that if there were complications, you would still have to pay private rates instead of the subsidized rate you pay by going public. So it doesn't really seem worth it. Personally, if I chose to go private, I wouldn't do so at the Queen Mary -- the soft skills are much, much better at a private hospital like the Matilda -- so the only real advantage of being a private patient at the QM is having the emergency facilities on site. Thankfully, the chances that your baby will need immediate, emergency care are not very high, and the private hospitals are very experienced at transferring patients to the Queen Mary if any complications arise.


Basically, your choice is down to what you feel comfortable with and what you can afford. One of the reasons I would choose to go public again is that, to my surprise, I found that the things I thought I would miss, like attentive carers and private, pleasant surroundings paled into insignificance during my birth experience. When push comes to a shove, all that will be on your mind is your new baby... and all that pain you are in!

I started private as it is my first pregnancy and I thought that I needed hand holding (even though my medical insurance does not cover maternity). However, after my first 2 private appointments I decided to switch to the public system. I chose a relatively well known private doctor, but was disappointed in the long wait to see him, his bedside manner (talked so much that it was difficult to ask questions and rough when doing an internal ultrasound), his rude receptionist (never once cracked a smile) and the costs for tests (plus a surcharge for using a credit card!). I am pleasantly surprised by the public system (Tsan Yuk) so far. The nurses at Tsan Yuk are very friendly and efficient. Yes, I still have a wait for my appts (there are tricks around this), but at least I am not paying lots of money for the pleasure of waiting. The basic tests are free and surely the private doctors don't get more accurate results than HKU (which Tsan Yuk is attached to). The public system doctors answered all my questions and made phone calls to get answers if they did not know themselves. I wanted a Down Syndrome test and due to my complicated schedule, the clinic squeezed me in at the last minute- great patient care and flexibility that you would normally not expect from a public system. However, I've also been lucky that my pregnancy has been smooth. If there were problems with the baby's health, etc. I might have stayed private for the handholding, consistency, etc. I also plan to give birth at Queen Mary- I'm a bit nervous about it, especially after taking a tour of the maternity ward. The wards are noisy, chaotic and I hate sharing bathrooms and the delivery room is archaic (functional but definitely not cozy), but it's only a couple of days out of my life- as mayafox said, once labour gets going, you won't care where you are. I'd rather put the $ spent on private birth towards the baby's college fund, etc. Good luck with your decision!

The issue of doctors charging more (considerably more) for a patient booked into a private room than they would for the same patient booked into a shared room is a moot point. Even if that patient were booked into a private room and that room was unavailable for some reason so she was 'relegated' to a shared room the higher charge would still apply - and that's even more of an issue with me. So much so that I took it up quite vigorously with a hospital recently - and got absolutely nowhere at all. It didn't matter to me from a pure financial viewpoint because we had 100% cover, but it's the principle. It's on that list of issues that I'll resurrect from time to time when the opportunity arises.

I too am newly pregnant and new to HK and was also overwhelmed by all the choices to be made. I called Annerly midwives and went into see them and they were great.


We have partial insurance cover so decided to share care with a private ob / gyn and annerly midwives and then probably will have baby at QMH.


Do give annerly a call as they were really helpful.

I had 2 babies as a private patient in a public hospital, the entire anti natal abd birth costs for both were $20k each, I saved money by only staying in 1 night with the 1st and coming out the same day with the 2nd. They were both midwife deliveries, as the doctor didn't make it in time. But even if the doctor had delivered it wouldn't have cost any extra. But that was 7 and 4 years ago and I believe costs have at least doubled since then. If I had an 'accident' I would go the public route next time.

To TC, we had a similar thing at POW. My son was in ICU for 6 days (obviously the care is the same for public or private - 24 hour care), then was moved to the childrens ward, we asked after a private room but none was available. After 3 days they said they could move him to a private room but the bill would charge him as a private patient from the day he was admitted i,e 9 days before. We said no way, that it was totally wrong even though the insurance would have covered it.

I read from some other threads that doctor's consultation fee should be about 700- 1000 hkd.


However each time i go to the doctor i've had to pay about 2000HKD for one reason or the other - like blood tests and all.