Any English speaking doctors in Beijing?

[Triling]

I would like to visit a hospital in Beijing and wanted to know if anybody had any recommendations.

It would be really great if I could go to a US-educated doctor who could speak English... or a foreign hospital.

Any recommendations?

[Triling]

I just found this

 

http://beijing.usembassy-china.org.cn/acs_health/chinese-hospitals/beijing.html

 

Anyone have been to these places?

 

 

Beijing Hospital Affiliated to Ministry of Public Health

卫生部北京医院

Telephone: 010-8513-2266 or 010-6528-2171

Patient with special needs call: 010-85133130-1

Address: No. 1 Dahua Lu, Dongdan, Dongcheng District, Beijing

地址：北京市东城区东单大华路1号

English service available

 

MEDEX Assistance Corporation (Medical Evacuation Service)

Telephone: 010-65958510,

Toll free number: 108888-800-527-0218

Address: No. 871 Poly Plaza, #14 Dongzhimen Nandajie, Beijing

地址：北京市东直门南大街14号保利大厦871房间

English service available

 

Global Doctor Medical Center – Beijing

环球医生

Telephone: 010-83151915

Address: 9/F Mingri Building No. 69 N. Dongdan Ave. Chaoyang District

地址：北京市朝阳区东单北大街69号协和明日大厦9层

English service available

 

LIST International Medical Center (IMC) – Beijing

环球医生

24-hour telephone: 010-64651562/ extension 3

Address: Lufthansa Center 50 Liangmaqiao Lu, Suite 106, Chaoyang District, Beijing

地址：北京市朝阳区东单北大街69号协和明日大厦9层

English service available

 

Hong Kong International Medical Clinic – Beijing

北京香港国际医务诊所

Telephone: 010-65532288 ext. 2345/6

Address: 9/F, Swissotel Office Bldg., Chaoyangmen Beidajie, Dongcheng District, Beijing

地址：北京市东城区朝阳门北大街2号港澳中心办公楼9层

English service available

 

International SOS Clinics in Beijing 

国际SOS北京诊所

Clinic appointments: 010-6462 9112

Address: Suite 105, Wing 1, Kunsha Building, 16 Xinyuanli, Chaoyang District,Beijing

Emergency room services open 24 hours, every day of the year

地址：北京市朝阳区新源里16号琨莎中心1座105室

English service available

 

China Academy of Medical Science-Beijing Hospital (Peking Union Hospital)

协和医院

Telephone: 010-65296114 

Address: No. 1 Shuaifuyuan, Dongcheng District, Beijing

地址：北京市东城区帅府园1 号  

English service available

 

Beijing United Family Hospital

北京和睦家医院

Telephone: 010-5927-7000

Emergency Hotline: 010-59277120

Address: 2 Jiang Tai Lu, Chaoyang District, Beijing

地址：北京朝阳区蒋台路2号

English service available

 

http://www.expatmedicare.com/insurance-bejing

this link seems to suggest that Beijing United Family and Clinics is really good, International SOS is foreign operated, and these are described below

 

• Global Doctor, a clinic which offers basic family medicine services,
• Bayley & Jackson Medical Center, which offers services in family medicine, dentistry, pediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynecology, internal medicine, counseling and other specialities.
• Vista Clinic-Kerry Center, a 10-year old clinic with doctors who speak Japanese, Korean and English and even make house calls.
• International Medical Center - Beijing, another clinic that offers a variety of services in English, Russian and Arabic.
• Hong Kong International Medical Clinic, a joint-venture clinic that offers a variety of services and the pharmacy is stocked with imported and TCM medicine.

[Tianjin42]

There are international clinics + hospitals if you want them. Most recently I saw an experienced American doctor at the United Family Clinic next to Liangmaqiao. It was good but not cheap. Hope you have insurance. 

[anonymoose]

If you want a good doctor for Chinese prices, I suggest you go to one of the university hospitals. I'm not familiar with Beijing, but there should be a hospital affiliated to, for example, Peking University.

 

Many of the doctors at these hospitals have experience abroad, and most of them speak English, at least to some degree.

[Triling]

I don't have insurance. What kind of insurance can a foreigner have?

How expensive is expensive?

[zhouhaochen]

United Family Hospital is still the default hospital for English speaking doctors. They are outrageously expensive though, so make sure you are insured

[Triling]

More expensive than a ticket to Korea or Japan or Hong Kong and seeing doctors there?

I had no idea I needed insurance for doctors visit in China.

I do have insurance in America.

[roddy]

I'm out of date here, but options for relatively affordable hospitals with foreigner wings I know of would be Peking Union and the Sino-Japanese. There also used to be a Singapore-run clinic in a building (the Swissotel? Is that where the Swissotel is?) off Dongzhimen - wasn't a full hospital, but if you just need to see a doctor...

 

Whether you need insurance or not depends on what you need done, and how much money you have. I can't imagine treatment anywhere else in East Asia is going to be cheap for an uninsured foreigner. Thailand's a more popular choice for affordable surgery, I think. 

[zhouhaochen]

Triling, you have to pay for all doctors wherever you go in the world, unless you have insurance - same in China as the USA.....

 

I assume a doctor in Japan or Korea would not be free either, so that would probably not be cheaper.

 

Roddy's suggestions for Peking Union and Sino-Japanese are still both good, as cheaper alternatives to United Family Hospital, though the service level at both is significantly lower than United Family Hospital as the international departments are by now also used by many locals and very busy. Exact prices only the hospital can tell you, but basically talking to a doctor in UFH costs you about 1000 CNY and at Peking Union 200 CNY. Everything else is extra and in similar categories.

 

Check with your insurance, they might cover China.

[Triling]

Oh okay. 1000 CNY doesn't seem that bad, although it would be cheaper with insurance in America.

200 CNY is very cheap compared to most places I've been to in Korea or US for primary care.

[Lu]

I had no idea I needed insurance for doctors visit in China.

As Zhouhaochen says: doctors don't work for free. In some countries they are paid by the state (France comes to mind), but usually the patient has to pay. Many insurance companies offer insurance abroad, so that you don't go bankrupt if you happen to break your leg waterskiing in Thailand. You could even try and see if you can get insurance right now, before going to the hospital. Not sure if this is possible, but it's worth trying. Travel insurance is usually cheaper than full-on health care insurance in your own country (because you're usually only abroad for a short time, thus the odds of you getting sick there are smaller). If you live abroad full-time, you should look into health insurance for that. It's a bit pointless to pay American insurance if you live in China and thus also get sick in China. People have recommended OOM to me as a good insurance company for this, but that might only be for Dutch people, not sure.

 

As to hospitals, I've been to United Family Hospital and it was good and expensive. Also been to an international hospital in Guomao, I'm afraid I forgot the name. I got the treatment I needed there and it was also expensive.

 

Good luck, and get well soon!

[Triling]

@Lu,

 

How much was ur visit to United Family?

[Lu]

I honestly don't remember. This was in 2011 or so. Perhaps you can call them if you have a rough idea of what kind of procedure you need, to ask what the approximate costs would be.

[roddy]

It'd be a lot quicker to just give them a phone. 

[ChTTay]

Most teachers at my school go to the Wangfujing hospital... Can't recall the exact name but it has a foreign or international clinic. The nurses and doctors all speak English to some degree. It is way cheaper than an expat hospital but more expensive than a normal Chinese hospital. I have been there and found it to be fairly good, although nothing like visiting a doctor back in the UK.

[Silent]

 

I don't have insurance. What kind of insurance can a foreigner have?

Sounds a bit naive to me especially as you state

 

 

I do have insurance in America.

 

Insurance exists in many forms and with many different kinds of conditions. So check your american insurance policy. It is well possible that it covers international emergency treatments. In the netherlands insurance by default includes emergency treatments within Europe and non emergency treatments may be covered if the insurance company is informed before hand and agrees to it. So it may also be worthwhile to contact your us insurance and just ask. With us insurance available flying back home for the treatment is also a possibility. The flight may be a bit more expensive then to Japan, but the treatment is likely to be covered.

 

If you have travel insurance it may be possible they cover your medical bill, but usually these only cover emergency medical care and assume medical insurance at home and in case of big expenses will repatriate you if reasonably possible.

 

You don't mention what is the issue but considering you asking for advise and considering flying elsewhere suggests it's not really urgent. So also the option of getting insurance now is open. Usually you can't insure after the incident, but for medical issue's reality works out a bit different. So you might get insurance and go to the hospital after you got a confirmation you're accepted.

[Triling]

Sorry I am indeed naive about how the healthcare system works in China.

It's still a mystery to me how the insurance system works in China for a) Chinese and b) foreigners (if there are such distinctions).

I thought that 95% of Chinese were covered by the government health insurance?

Do people have private insurance also?

[gato]

I thought that 95% of Chinese were covered by the government health insurance?

Do people have private insurance also?

More like 40%...

 

Government health insurance is organized by cities under the local social security system.  If you have a job and pay social social security to the local city governmnt, the city's social security system would grant health insurance coverage under city's policy.  That insurance policy only covers public hospitals WITHIN the city and cannot be used outside the city, nor does it cover private hospitals (such as United Family Hospital).  If you stop paying social security and do no yet qualify for retire benefits, then your public health insurance coverage also stops. 

 

Social security is only availabe within cities, so those who live in rural areas are not covered.

 

Private insurance is available that would cover private hospitals, but they are also expensive (at least as expensive as health insurance in the US for a comparable level of coverage).

[edelweis]

note to Lu: in France doctors are paid by the patient in most cases. (except for emergency room in hospitals which I think are supposed to be somehow free). The patient then gets a partial refund from social security on the basis of a percentage of the approved price for the performed act (some doctors ask for a higher price, they must inform the patient beforehand). It's a mandatory health insurance, meaning employers pay the monthly fee directly to social security. And many companies choose to provide complementary private health insurance to their employees (the monthly fee can be split between employer and employee) in order to get better coverage or better refunds.

This is how it works for employed people in France (not sure of the details for unemployed people).

In some cases (non emergency consultation at a public hospital for instance) the patient may not have to pay the bill upfront -the cashier asks for your social security card, and if it's accepted by the computer, social security will pay directly.

But most GPs refuse this system - direct payment from social security (even though they may be forced to apply it in a few years) because they say it leads to a feeling of entitlement and a loss of respect for the medical profession (not sure these are the exact words) as patients are not as aware of the full price of the consultation as when they have to settle the full bill themselves then get the partial refund.

Edit: so contrary to what our neighbours think, in France health insurance and doctors are not free or magically paid by "the state".

[Lu]

@Edelweis: thanks, I had no idea about any of this, so I shouldn't have used France as an example. Sounds like the situation in France is about as fraught as here in the Netherlands.

 

@Trilling: have you managed to get insurance yet?