Hi,
I have just moved to HK from London. Although I have a private health insurance I wanted to check if I also need to register with a local GP in case I need to see a doctor for let's say a cold.
Thank you!
Hi,
I have just moved to HK from London. Although I have a private health insurance I wanted to check if I also need to register with a local GP in case I need to see a doctor for let's say a cold.
Thank you!
You can walk in to any number of Doctors you want. They will get you to register there and then. You can then see the Doctor and walk out with a pocket full of pills to justify the fee they will charge.
For general stuff we use Quality Healthcare (they're on our Insurance network). I do have to make sure that the Dr understands that I'm not after the general "anti-biotics and ibuprofen" garbage that they hand out randomly.
For something that I think might require a few visits, I wander into Canossa Hospitals outpaitent department ($210 to see the doc + meds + parking) - I am too lazy to claim that ... as they're not in our network. Used to go to the Sanitorium OPD but they've become way too big and I like the "small practice feel" of the Canossa OPD.
Expat doctors in Central will run you anywhere from $400-800 per visit + meds. There are a few... and some of them have quite a good reputation in the community. Again, if your insurance cover provides for this - then I'd recommend you find one that meets your requirements - going into the local system can be a bit of a culture shock.
Sanitorium also has healthcare centers which I will sometimes use as the queuing/wait time than Quality Healthcare is less. They are non-network and about $360 including drugs for simple stuff like flu
Unlike in the UK where you get a prescription from your doctor and then go to a pharmacy and pay for the medication / pills etc, how does it work in HK? Where do you go to get your medication?
Also, is there any "patient database" between private doctors, or is it just a case of 'finding a good one and sticking with them' so that you don't have to repeat your entire medical history each time to someone new?
What about hospital referrals? Compared to the UK approach of seeing your GP for a referral?