By Tedler D. Depaynos, MD
It was over cups of black coffee when a distant relative related his experience with one of our local hospitals. He brought his wife for consultation to a specialist MD and because of her condition a minor surgical procedure was needed to relieve her of her pain. She was then for admission and scheduled at the operating room (OR) the following day at 6 AM because of an earlier procedure scheduled by the specialist. Besides, the OR was filled with scheduled procedures already.
Unfortunately, the hospital was fully occupied and there were no rooms or even beds in the wards available. Besides, there were some earlier patients waiting to be admitted. The specialist MD requested then if they could go home and come back at least 1 ½ hours before the scheduled procedure the next morning. The patient would then be treated as an outpatient. They agreed although he was a little worried if they could get a taxi at that very unholy hour.
As soon as they arrived at the hospital emergency room (ER) the following early morning, the patient was brought immediately to the operating room (OR). The specialist MD together with the anesthesiologist arrived on time and immediately did the procedure.
The minor procedure just lasted for less than 2 hours without any complications. As a routine procedure, however, the patient was still made to stay at the recovery room (RR) inside the operating room for at least 2-3 hours for observation before being discharged. Throughout the procedure and his wife’s stay at the recovery room, he waited outside the OR.
Just before discharge, he was made to pay their bills. With his wife’s PhilHealth and senior citizen discount he was glad that he was just made to pay around 50% of the bill. He was not concerned how the computation was made but he was happy because the 50% discount was already very significant.
He was all praises for the hospital staff and the attending MDs especially when they arrived home and were eating their late breakfast. Then the text messaage from the Hospital Billing Section to the effectthat they made a mistake in their Phil Health deduction. Instead of a total 50% discount, it should be 60%. He was requested to return the receipt they issued so that it would be changed and he could get his refund immediately. He wasted no time in returning to the hospital. In giving his refund, the staff was with apologies. He cannot imagine how detailed they were and very honest and he interpreted this as part of the commitment of the hospital in taking care of patients. When asked what hospital did this to them, he just mentioned Notre Dame as he finished his third plain “pandesal”.**
