Beware of "Ache" Udon "International" hostpital. They are way over rated because they have the "internat'l" in their name and an office inside the lobby that handles foreign patients. Mishandle them is more like it. Bunch of quacks in white coats hanging out in there. The place is notorious for misdiagnosing and over charging. Then it's "so sorry, mai pen rai, you pay downstairs". BUPA insurance has had many complaints against them as well. If you need the services of a decent hostpital for minor things, check out the Army Hostpital or Wattana. Head for Bangkok's Bumrundgrad if you really need some first rate care. No, it's not cheap, but far less expensinsive than what you would pay for the same services back home.

Tend to disagree with you on ur comments a little.

Yes all private hospitals charge more than the 'Public " system, but u cant walk into a Public hospital and get seen by a consultant ( not a GP first ) .

Over charging can also been seen by some as providing extra services and there isnt a private system in the world that wont take advantage of your insurance company. Where I worked in Australia, the first question asked by the ER triage nurse in the private sector to the Paramedics was " Does he have Positive Coin Syndrome " ie Insurance !

Ie, BUPA might not pay for your internet and TV servics, check your own fine print before checking in for admission , better than have to sort the issues out later. Dont forget patients ( Policy holders ) also try to get extras added when their policy doesnt include it, Ie Private Room. Its why for elective admissions your insurance company should be involved in the authorisation process prior to admission and thats what the " Front Desk International Desk " does.

Misdiagnosis is common no matter where u go, patients are notorious for not always telling all the story. Yes some Clinical misdiagnosis still occurs.

Your post says for minor things check out the Army Hospital ( Kiprajak ) and Wattana, Well minor things dont generally get misdiagnosed or incorrectly treated.

I have seen some notorious short cuts taken here in Udon in the Public system, to be fixed later in the private sector, as poor diagnosis is down to costs. We wont do a CT scan at 0300 hrs in the morning to wake the Staff up, we will wait till the drunk motorcyclist gets over it, well after he starts to have seizures, its too late.

As for Bangkok hospitals , Bumrungrad is the most expensive in Thailand, yes the consultants there are very good , mostly with some international training programme accreditation. If you want to look at overcharging go no further, pick ups from the airport, in an ambulance , with nurse escorts for people traveling to Thailand as medical tourists to have their rhinoplasty ( Nose Job ). No wonder there is no respect for the ambulances here on the road , as they are taxis with rotation beacons many of the times for many front seat patients.

I recently assisted a person in getting quotes in BKK for a vasectomy reversal and the 3 majors i communicated with had prices ranging from 180,000 baht to 120,000 baht, and some had 2 night admissions and others 1 night.

If this procedure was done in the Public system, it would be done under " day surgery " and discharged home that afternoon.

Compare the costs of 2 MRI's i recently had done in the public sector, ( 19000 Baht ) v's 38000 for 1 at Bumrungrad ! , Just took the results to the Consultant at Bumrungrad.

The best hospital in North Eastern Thailand is probably the Sirikarin University Hospital at Khon Kaen with the attached Cardic Heart Centre. Several posters have been admitted here recently and their outcomes seem to be positive

The standard of primary care is certainly lower in Issan, they cant attract good quality medical staff and salaries are a part of that.

The bottom line in any health care system is you only hear of the bad / complaints, you never hear of the good outcomes and successful treatments. 1 negative case should never taint the bigger picture of patient care. By far the majority of clinical care professionals, consultants , GP's , Nurses , Paramedical staff Physios, Radiographers, Pathology etc, do not spend years at Uni to deliberately make their patients suffer.

Remember as a patient you are entittled to ask for exactly what is going on, how much and how long etc and get it in writing.

[quote]
Remember as a patient you are entittled to ask for exactly what is going on, how much and how long etc and get it in writing.wazza



The above is so true and in fact many of the medical facilities here in udon surpass that or nearby towns, with the exception of the the hospital in Kohn kaen dealing with cardia problems.

The problem is here is that Doctors are by tradition held in high esteeem by Thais and patients do not as the norm questin Docotrs diagnosis nor their treatment but take it blithely expecting the doctor to be right. Where we cause upset, is we ask questions and in some cases doctors are concerned about answering or cannot communicate sufficiently in English in order to inform us.

having siad that all the years I have been here, I have no real complaints in general farangs are more in tune with their bodies than Thais and as such we know when something is wrong and tend to deal with it immediately, Thais o the other hand wait until in some cases the only diagnosis is death, oh well, thats buddism for you .

AEK, Wattana, even paulo are all much of a muchness and the Military hospital is one above the general hospital, you pays your money and make a choice, a lot it has to be siad is patients expectation, if you are not happy with the hospital one is always more critical than if you are happy.
yes they can charge over the top, yes they can mis-diagnose, but once the diagnosis is correct they have the ability and the skill to put it right. I have seen many a farang who should be dead due to their ( the farangs ) abuse of his body .live.
There is no better advert than a walking talking farang who by the grace of god and the medical services in udon is alive.

I have had occasion to use various medical and dental services at AEK (including an emergency admission with an overnight stay) and have no complaints about them.

I can only judge them on the basis of my own experience and (so far) I have found them to be as professional and good as anything I have experienced in the UK (NHS, BUPA & Nuffield Hospitals).

Although I have had occasional language problems (it would be pretty well impossible not to have had any at all) they have always been sorted out and IMHO only constitute a relatively minor problem – anyway, how many can honestly say they actually fully understand the diagnosis of an English doctor?

We gave the military hospital a try for a gyneco, it took hours to see a doctor and we were told we should consult AEK for such a luxury problem.

Conclusion: we should have started with AEK to begin with as we normally do.

Amused to see the ATM machine at the fore in the last photo.

Also 1 ( Kasikorn ) on the lower ground floor outside the Physio, Skin Clinic and Motor Licence area.

ezrider's critic is just utter nonsense and should have been removed in the first place.

i would just like to say that i had to attend this hospital in october this year for a few nights . this hospital is first class and would recommend this as first choice if medical treatment is needed

Techland wrote:ezrider's critic is just utter nonsense and should have been removed in the first place.

Agree with Techland, ezrider's critique is un-called for. If you don't like the facilities then move somewhere that caters for whingers. This is a third world country trying to do their best, not cater for retiring septic's. If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.


Sorry, it's new years eve and I have strong opinions when I'm pissed.

Gozzo

look out for Cyclones over there, Port Headland, brings back memories from Seismic offshore.


have a good one !

I've been going to AEK for 7 years for outpatient care. I have no complaints about the care or professionalism of the doctors I've seen. They all seemed competent, up to date in their clinical knowledge and skills, and had good command of English. The rest of the staff are largely incompetent in English.

I do not purchase any medications at AEK because they can be had much cheaper at the many pharmacies in town, except perhaps Somsak who is on a par with them. Certainly AEK is more expensive than the public hospital and perhaps the next time I have a day to waste I'll go to the public hospital to save 100 baht.

I have never had an emergency situation and figure that is where care is most lacking. To the best of my knowledge there are no Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT's), and there is no 24 hour trauma center in Udon. The standard of emergency care is sorely lacking here. That's life (and death) in a developing country.

I have also had care at both Wattana and Paolo. AEK is my choice for routine medical care in Udon. I would probably not chose them for any major surgeries as they are not up to the standards I want for that kind of care.

When I needed major surgery I went to Bumrungrad in Bangkok. Dramatically more expensive and more professionalism throughout their care teams. Certified to American standards as is Bangkok Hospital. Still the cost was considerably less than half what similar care would have cost me had I returned to the US for surgery.

The AEK brought my fine son into this world last April, top flight ob-gyn, birthing and post-natal. Never, ever mentioned the usual spiel that farang babies means an automatic c-section so my first-timer super mum didn't have any needless stress and the lad had a healthier and safer passage into the world.

They have my vote.

Techland wrote:ezrider's critic is just utter nonsense and should have been removed in the first place.

AEK are, obviously, now a sponsor of the map &, as a side effect, now the forum as well. I would have removed the post as I certainly feel that unsubstantiated criticism of a sponsor in unwarranted.
I have not done so for two reasons:
1. Some members would see that as censorship or the stopping of freedom of expression.
2. The positive posts about AEK that the remark as generated more than compensate for 1 negative & vague critic.

Lee might take a different approach as it is his livelihood

It's very difficult when there is a conflict of interest. Out of respect to Lee and the team I have refrained from putting my own personnel experience of AEK only to say I did go to Bumrungrad hospital for a complicated operation