Philippines Follow-Up Doctor Visit

A typical Philippines doctor visit is short unless the patient asks several questions. My first follow-up visit to the hospital’s outpatient area didn’t take long and was a pleasant experience. 

The doctor was in a good mood and gave me great news. 

Some readers wanted a follow-up on my health issue, and I wanted them to know what a follow-up visit was like at a Philippines hospital. The only problem I found was the appointment was for the wrong doctor.

Let’s see what a follow-up visit is all about.

If you haven’t read about my nightmare hospital visits click here.

Arrival

I arrived just before my appointment time at 2:30. The waiting room isn’t full of people, but it’s probably because of social distancing. However, there were several people at the front desk in a group waiting for help.

Everyone had on a mask and but not a face shield, which the hospital requires.

Status

It took the desk staff several minutes to find my appointment. It was probably a first visit issue, so I didn’t think much about it. The problem I had was all the people standing around together in a group without any airflow.

Covid is rampant in this area, so every precaution should be taken by the hospital to stop the virus’s spread. I saw minimal observance of stop the spread procedures. 

Triage Check

My first outpatient visit and I was expecting a real going over, so my chart had some data. 

The triage nurse took my height, weight, and blood pressure. That was it, I asked myself. The process took five minutes. 

They didn’t take my temperature or ask any questions whatsoever. It’s almost as if the process bothered them, and they didn’t have time for it.

I was thinking, different country, different process.

Waiting Room

After my “extensive” triage check, the staff asked me to wait in the waiting room. 

I took a seat in the waiting room, away from everyone. The front door was open, letting the 97-degree heat inside. Two fans were blowing, but overall there was little air circulation. The staff didn’t check how to maximize the airflow to cool people and help stop the spread of Covid.

Sitting in the heat with a mask and face shield is not much fun. You cannot wipe the sweat from your face. I always take a face towel, but it’s worthless in these incidences. 

My seat was close enough to the front desk to hear people coming in and asking for a Covid test. Some of the requests were work-related, but some people were terrified that they may have the virus without any symptoms.

The hype here in the Philippines is causing panic.

Doctor

At 3:00, the doctor was available. The appointment was a half-hour late, but I have waited hours in America for appointments, so this short half-hour wait acceptable.

I thought I would see the Pulmonologist and get some refills on my medication but found that I was seeing the heart specialist. The doctor’s face was puzzled for a bit, and they asked why I made a follow-up with them because my heart is strong and I am the picture of health.

The follow-up was made by the hospital staff before left the hospital. I was just following protocol. Since I was there already, the doctor refilled my prescriptions and reviewed my 2D ECHO again.

The heart specialist asked me to make a follow-up appointment with the Pulmonologist for next week. 

The doctor told me that he couldn’t improve on perfection, so I left the office. This interaction made me feel good, and I was happy with my doctor’s visit.

Bill

The bill was 500 Philippines pesos, payable when leaving. So when converting the peso to US dollars, I paid $10 for a visit without insurance.

Exit

It’s the holy week in the Philippines, so doing anything is difficult. It was almost impossible to get inside the car parked next to the roadway with all the traffic because parking space is hard to come by.

I grew tired of waiting, so I took my big American body out into traffic. Everyone stopped as I entered the waiting car, and we drove away.

I just chuckled a bit.

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Have you visited a doctor in the Philippines? Share your story below in the comment section.

Do you have questions about medical care in the Philippines? Please put your question in the comment section below.