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  • UK.

    Until recently, if I wanted an appointment I had to phone the GP surgery the moment it opened at 8:30 in the morning, wait in a phone queue for ten minutes or so before I got to speak to a receptionist who'd give me an appointment with which ever GP had some free time that day. It wasn't usually possible to book an appointment several days in advance.

    A couple of months back they switched to an app which gives much more flexibility, allows you to choose which doctor you want to see and allows you to book appointments in advance. I do worry that they're going to push everyone to use that since old gippers are likely to struggle with the app unless they're semi-tech savvy. Also, it's obvious to me that they're setting this up to use AI to triage requests if they're not already doing that.

    Appointments always used to be face to face but since covid they're increasingly phone consultations especially for follow-ups. If it's a first, diagnostic appointment it's still likely to be face to face though.

    For face to face, the wait time is generally less than half an hour from the point I get to the GP surgery.

    Obv. it's free at the point of use. I've paid my taxes.

    Edit to add: if you're on low income, or are a child, old, etc you get your prescriptions free. Otherwise you have to pay for them at £9.90 per 2 month prescription. I'm on a shitload of medication and that would normally cost me well over £500 a year, but I get a prepayment certificate which costs me £114.50 a year and covers all medication.

  • Germany

    Had 3 surgeries (wisedom teeth, nose bone correction and a refilling tooth surgery), an X-Ray, MRI, and i think 4 doctor visits plus all 3 months a psychiatrist to get my adhd medication.

    The only thing i had to pay was 20€ for a none concret filling on my tooth, and 30€ for 6 days in hospital.

    Hospital food was better than i expected and always heared about.

    Had to wait a year for that surgery but the other specialist appointments were really quick in only a few months. Especially the wisdomtooth was in 2 weeks after the call for an appointment

    Wait time was only a few minutes.

    But had an appointment at a dermitologist and there i waited 3 hours!! Almost walked out. And i wanted was more info about my skin type and laser hair removal.

  • Thailand. Private pay.

    Take a ride share car to the private hospital.

    Greeted by concierge when I walk in. She asks why I'm here and then directs me to another desk on another floor.

    Entering the next room feels a bit like a hotel lobby. There are big sofas and comfortable lighting. It feels cozy even though it's a large space. There's a Starbucks. Another concierge approaches me. I explain why I'm here and I'm sat down and handed an iPad where I can fill in some medical background. They have my record from a previous visit so it's quick. I confirm that I will pay with a credit card instead of using any insurance.

    In about 10 minutes I'm brought to a room where a nurse catches my weight and blood pressure. Then I'm brought to the patient exam room.

    A few minutes later the doctor comes in and performs his examination. He makes his diagnosis types some notes into his computer. He asks me to come back for a follow-up in one week and pick up my prescription on the way out.

    Leaving the exam room, another nurse catches me to hand me the diagnosis paperwork and points me to the pharmacy.

    I walk to the pharmacy and hand them my paperwork. They collect my payment for the whole visit and ask me to wait until my name is called to pick up the prescription.

    About 10 minutes later the prescription is ready and I'm out the door with a small bag of drugs and about $125 out of my wallet.

    The service is comprehensive and everything is available in one building. For this country it's a bit expensive but you feel like you're very well taken care of and it's instant.

  • Australia

    • for non-urgent regular things book with my GP in an app (pretty sure that’s the case for most GPs too). usually an appointment within a few days; sometimes he’s booked out for a couple of weeks, but if i don’t feel like waiting i can book anywhere else. when i go to my appointment, tests etc are all free. i go to a private clinic so i pay $75AUD (~$50USD) and the govt reimburses me $45 of that - public clinics are free but i go to a speciality clinic
    • for non-urgent sick things (or anything really - scripts etc too; i just use it when i don’t want to go to my GP) we have home doctor service: you book in an app and a doctor will come to your house the same day - free
    • for specialists the waiting period can depend on what it is, but i have had a 3mo wait for a specialist before :(… usually you go to your GP, get a referral, see a specialist, then perhaps have surgery if necessary. it can be a months long wait for surgeries which is not great, buuuuut it’s also great to go in for day surgery in the morning, and just leave later that day without paying a cent
    • for emergency, unfortunately you can be waiting for a few hours… they triage you so i’m sure if it’s a real issue you wouldn’t keep you waiting but for things like potentially broken bones you can be waiting for up to 3hr… it’s all free
    • for ambulance it differs per state but in my state (victoria) they aren’t - it’s ~$1400 for an emergency trip. you can also buy ambulance membership for $53/y and it’s free

    pretty much anything where i’ve talked about costs or free you give them your medicare (federal health system for everyone - not just low income etc) details and they bill the govt a set amount for time and materials used. GP clinics etc store it on file so sometimes you can just walk out without talking to anyone

  • The Netherlands

    I call my doctor, make an appointment the same day, go there, tell my story, get referred to a specialist or get meds or whatever, all covered by insurance.

    Specialist: sometimes appointment within a week or 2, sometimes it takes a month. It's covered by insurance, but there's an own risk budget each year of 380 euros. So all costs up to that budget are paid by yourself, the rest is covered. But since I'm getting mental health care, I pay 380 each januari and the rest for the entire year is all covered. This year I've had a broken collarbone repaired with a metal plate with all the photos before and after, I had 2 bladder infections which needed antibiotics and I had food poisoning on holiday and intestand infection, which was all covered at home and abroad.

    Insurance

    I pay 180 a month. It includes dental and some extras like 9 physical therapist appointments.

  • It's pretty much bullshit, you just get ignored or condescended to by assholes who want you out of their office so they can get the next "billable" in. When you demand competent attention, they just use their knowledge of the system to fuck with you. I had a doctor write me out a prescription the pharmacist took away, hiding the evidence of the doctor writing out a female hormone prescription rather than an appropriate treatment. 3 year wait list for a specialist, turned up they day of to find it had been cancelled a year prior. No recourse, can't contact these people by phone, when you trick the accounting dept to put you through to the office you had the appointment with, they lose their shit on you. STD check request? You get some moron demanding to know why you feel the need for testing. Canada, btw. I haven't had health insurance in 9 years, the first 6 because that province I lived i flat out refused to issue a health card, and the last three i this province, just because I am so over their bullshit I no longer care, I ever get hurt bad enough again need help, I'll worry about it then I guess. They just tend to let you die anyways, as far as diseases, injuries they'll do what they can, but cancer and the like they wait you out.

  • I've lived in multiple places, so I'll talk about all of them.

    Brazil

    I lived in two places there, essentially you can choose between public or private systems.

    Under the private system you would book an appointment with whatever doctor you wanted, usually one or two weeks in advance, pay them (which is relatively expensive depending on the doctor), have the consultation, they might ask for some exams (some of which are paid, others included), possibly get a prescription (that you would have to pay for yourself), possibly go back for a follow up appointment (included in the price you already paid).

    On the public system you book an appointment, wait some time (months in some places, days in others), have your consultation (if the doctor is in that day), possibly get a prescription (that you would likely get for free), possibly go back for a follow up appointment.

    Ireland

    There's a public system, but you have to be below a certain income level to use it, otherwise you have to go through the private system. You have to register with your GP (most of which don't have available spots), for anything you first need to contact your GP (which usually takes a week), and pay €60, explain your problem and if they choose to forward you to and specialist (even if you go and say I need to see a cardiologist they might say "no, you do not", although that's unlikely), then they send an email to the specialist who only then accepts that you book with them (usually for a week or so later), then you have to pay the specialist (which is usually >€300), they might ask for some exams (which you have to book and pay on your own, some blood work I did was €700), they might give you a prescription (which is paid but there's a €80 cap on medicine per house per month, which is the only nice part of the whole system), and if you need a follow up it's usually €150. If you have health insurance (or at least mine was like this) they give you back 50% of all your expenses up to a certain limit.

    Spain

    I'm not too familiar with the options here because I have private insurance through my work and as you'll see I've had no reason to look elsewhere, but I've been told the public system is fairly similar. Whenever I need an appointment I open my insurance app or call a doctor office and ask if they take my insurance, book an appointment (usually for a week or two in advance), go there, show my id and insurance card, go to the appointment, if they ask for some exams I do them, if they give me a prescription I take it to a pharmacy and pay it out of pocket (this is the only part I know public system exists and is somewhat better because you get the drugs for free, but since I don't take any recurring prescriptions I haven't bothered to check), if I need a follow up I book it and go back. Never had to pay one cent for anything other than medicine. I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop and getting billed for all of the Dr appointments, but so far it hasn't happened hahaha

  • Portugal

    If it doesn't require immediate attention I call my health center. I can get an appointment with my family pshysician in a few days or, if it's more urgent, some other doctor will see me the same day but I'll have to wait there until one is free (can go anywhere between 15mn and 2 hours). I'm lucky though, some health centers suck really bad. The ones in big cities are generally better.

    If it's more urgent I call the national health line and they'll A: tell me how to treat it myself B: set up an appointment in my health center (or another if mine is not available) C: send me straight to the closest emergency room.

    Wait times in the emergency room depend on the gravity and the hospital. My hospital sucks. Low priority you'll spend there the whole day, easy. 10+ hours. Medium priority you'll wait 4 or 5 hours. High priority about an hour, maybe two. Very high priority (head falling off) you go right in. In good hospitals those times are much lower. In the major city I used to live I never waited more than 2 hours for any priority. I also had surgery there and it was great.

    Never paid a cent, I think it goes without saying.

  • Brazil, urban area, with a health plan (private healthcare)

    I go to the doctor, grab a little paper with a number on it, wait for the number to be displayed on the monitor, go to the reception desk, give them my health plan card and my ID, they give those back to me, I sit back down and wait for the same number to be displayed on a different monitor. Once it's displayed, I go to the room number shown on the monitor and from there, I discuss what problem I have with an adequate specialist.

    For an unplanned visit, the wait time is usually 5–30 minutes, depending on the hour and season (there are a lot of tourists during summer, meaning longer wait times and more people at the hospital).

    I don't know about pricing (my parents pay for it), but it's probably not too expensive since we've never had financial problems due to health issues (as far as I'm aware).

    I've never not went to the doctor for financial reasons, only for health concerns (worrying about getting sick with something else, specially if the waiting room is full or almost full). Sometimes prescribed medicine can be pretty expensive.

  • Germany:
    I call the office
    I schedule a time (and maybe a date if it's not urgent)
    I go there
    I get my treatment (advice), a prescription and if needed when to reschedule
    I go to the apothecary and redeem my medication (usually without extra charges. But some arent subsidized 100% and you need to pay the remaining)
    I get better again
    I start working

  • Germany,rural area.

    I call my GP. It might take a few tries to get through. Tell the receptionist what I've got, she is more or less trying to triage me. When it's urgent enough and I am calling early enough I can usually get there on the same day but have to wait longer at the office,if it's less serious it's mostly one or two days,but with less waiting time at the office. To check in you hand them your insurance card. Medication is prescribed electronically, so you just hand the card (or do it online) at the pharmacy. The GP visit is free, medication has a small, limited copay. You get fully paid for 6 weeks of sickness per diagnosis by your employer, reduced pay for up to 2 years by the health insurance.

    If it's an illness requiring a specialist I can also try to book an appointment for that directly - but while that works well in larger cities it is totally impossible here, you simply won't get an appointment, not even in a year. The same happens when your GP refers you to a specialist,but there are mechanisms to give you a more urgent appointment - which works sometimes,sometimes they don't.

  • Brazil.

    If I'm at home and simply unwell, I can walk to the neighborhood clinic (one specific clinic based on my address) and get checked - that usually takes half an hour to a couple hours, but it may not always have a doctor available.

    So most people skip the local clinic completely and go to a municipal hospital instead (something doctors often plead people not to do). These should always have a couple doctors available and they'll see anybody - even if you have no documents. When you get there a nurse will check your pulse and stuff and ask some questions to determine your priority level, then the waiting time can go up to 4 hours if it's low priority.

    If you need specific exams, that will depend on how well equipped the hospital is. Many will do it right there, some will request it from other cities and that may take time, so there's the option of doing it in private clinics too.

    No matter what you may end up needing, if you do it through the public health system you won't need to pay anything at all. Even experimental treatments and surgeries can get arranged. But there's always the option of going to private clinics as well. Those can have much shorter waiting times.

    Based on my limited experience, this is what people seem to do for each kind of visit:

    Emergencies: pretty much everybody go to public hospitals. Most places don't even have private options for this.

    Basic check up: most people will use the public system first, unless it's something very specific and they are well financially.

    Dental care: most people who won't be financially crippled by it will go private. People tend to stick with the same dentist once they find a good one. On the public system you never know who you might be seeing.

    Eye doctor: 50/50. There are nearly as many private options for this as there are for dental care, but a lot of them suck.

    Expensive exams and operations: people will try to get them for free at first, or through some Health insurance plan they may have from work. Everybody knows someone who's been waiting months for something on the public system.

  • Ex had gallbladder issues that ran in the family.

    One night she had bad abdominal pain. Drive over and rush her to hospital. Gets in 15 minutes. Nurses provide aid and pain relief, night shift ER doc looks her over, determines is likely gall bladder and it needs to be removed based on pain. Morning doctor looks her over, says it's not bad enough to warrant immediate attention, sends her home with painkillers, an appointment for an ultrasound and a 6 month-ish waitlist for removal.

    --

    Two nights later, same story, she opts for an ambulance this time. This time the same night shift doctor stays a bit late to ensure that she gets an ultrasound right away.

    Gets sent home after the ultrasound and told that they will phone with next steps same day.

    11am, go back to the hospital, get told that she is being admitted for immediate gallbladder removal. Ended up taking a day and a half to get to the surgery because of a bad motorcycle accident then two emergency c-sections tired out the only surgeon available and his staff over a straight 24 hour shift. 8 hours sleep and she was first up. Got it out, follow up at a nurse practitioner to get the drain removed.

    Cost to us: $0

  • I'm an American, but when I lived in Japan, I needed to go to the doctor a few times. Honestly, the experience isn't great aside from it being cheap.

    For example, I herniated a disc in my neck at one point and needed to go to the emergency department. I got there just after 10:00 a.m. and was told that they stop accepting patients at 10:00. "Fortunately", I was unable to hold my head up straight, so they decided to see me anyway. The appointment was just over the equivalent of $20 at the time. They prescribed a muscle relaxer and sent me on my way. The prescription could be filled a block or two away and was pretty quick and only cost about 10 bucks. (Edit: I should note that this was a very temporary solution. The problem lasted for years.)

    Another time, I went to a clinic to try to get a sinus infection treated. I had/have a history of chronic sinus infections. Despite speaking pretty good Japanese and having a dictionary with me, I could not get them to understand the concept of a sinus infection. They put me on a nebulizer and then sent me home. Obviously not helpful. Don't remember what it cost.

  • France, not a big city. If I'm sick. I call the doctor office, in another city because all doctors here have no places. I may book an appointment in two or three weeks. If I really need a doctor, I can book an appointment to "sos doctor", that I will pay for a part (and part healthcare), or go to a non-vital emergency doctor at night, which is expensive (for a doctor in France) but reimbursed by healthcare. I can have access to this because I'm still in/near a city.

    The waiting time in a doctor office can be long, depending if they take time for their patients or not. I'm ok with that. If I have an appointment to my usual doctor, I don't pay or I only pay a little part which will be reimbursed minus 1€ (50/year max). There are doctors with exceding fees, like "sos doctor", those feeds are out of my pocket. Most of the time, we have healthcare AND private insurance, but there is a health insurance for poor people.

    For medecine, most of the times we don't pay anything but there are fees, 1€/medecine box (50/year max, but not the same as the 50 for doctors).

  • From south Brazil.

    For something not urgent I can usually get a private GP within a week or a specialist within a month.

    For something a bit more urgent, usually 1-2 hours in a private hospital, or 2-6 hours in a public one.

    When going private the health insurance has always covered everything, so no cost.
    Never had an emergency so I can't say how it is.

  • UK and Australia I’m originally from the UK but lived in Aus for 20 years. I returned to the UK a year ago due to my Mom getting a terminal diagnosis.

    In the UK I’ve had two GPs this year due to moving around. First GP you’d request appointments via an online form that was available for about an hour at the start of every day and they’d send you a date and time once they’d triaged all the requests. Usually got in within a day or two. Second GP requires a call, and you can book an appointment provided it’s not a busy day, again usually 2-3 days depending on how busy they are. Both GPs were via the NHS, so no upfront cost, just a small amount taken from your pay each month.

    In Aus, my GP was free at the point of delivery. It was pretty easy to get appointments and if you really wanted to see him, you could just turn up and wait until he could fit you in. Sometimes a 2 hour wait, but you could put your name down and return in 2 hours. I’m planning to change GP when I get back so will probably end up finding one where you pay an additional fee. There’s almost no doctors where you don’t pay extra any more.

  • Depends. When I broke my leg I had to wait a couple hours to get in to see a doctor, then surgery was a couple days. Even without a family doctor though if you’re just sick and need like some penicillin or stitches or something as long as you don’t go in a major city it’s like 15 minute wait times, usually no longer than an hour. Then you go in, tell em what’s wrong, they deal with it and prescribe you some drugs, then you leave and go get your drugs at the drug store. You gotta pay for the drugs unless you have benefits at your job though. Everything else is free.

    Edit: am Canadian.

  • I go there, try to explain what I have (I don't speak Korean and the doctor is not very good in English). Then the might give me a shot and let me inhale some stuff. Then I pay some mony (don't remember exactly how much, but not so much) and they give me a prescription and I go away. Most of the time it takes about 10 minutes.

  • If it's urgent, I go down there. If not, I schedule an appointment (how soon usually depends on the severity. Can be the next day, or the next week).

    Example: My oldest kid (12 years old at the time) fractured his arm while in school last spring. I was notified right away, so I picked him up at school and took him to the local clinic (3 minutes away) . The doctor wanted some xrays done, so he referred him to the local hospital and gave him some painkillers for the one hour trip (we live kind of in the middle of nowhere).

    We arrived at the ICU (it was after "office hours"), so we had to wait 30 minutes for the x-ray tech to be available. Turned out a titanium rod insert was needed, which requires anesthesia, so they couldn't do it the same day because of fasting requirements. Operation "scheduled" for the next day. He was given a temporary cast.

    Day arrived, and while there was a bit of wait since it was something they'd just have to insert into the schedule for the day whenever possible. Surgery went according to plan, and he was given a sandwich upon waking up, as he hadn't eaten since the day before. He had a new cast on that he had to keep for a couple of weeks. The local clinic could remove it, but they wanted to do it at the hospital so they could do a follow up xray to see that it was healing properly.

    A few weeks later, and things looked good. Cast removed.

    A couple of months ago he had the titanium rod removed without much ado.

    My only expense was the fuel cost for driving to the hospital.

    The only negative feedback I have is that my son didn't get to keep the titanium rod as a souvenir after they removed it. I guess the doctors have better things to do than washing gore off of scrap metal.

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