 |
| Outside of the Hospital |
I prepared to spend a long day of waiting. I loaded up my external battery for my phone, made sure I was dressed in comfy clothes and I went. I called a taxi and arrived to the hospital in about 10 minutes (the ride cost me 6 euros about $6.50). When the taxi dropped me off, I thought for a second maybe he dropped me at the wrong place. Nothing in there area looked like a hospital. I went in, and I saw the sign for Urgencias and I went up and explained my problem. All I really knew how to say was "my ear is really hurting me" (shout out to my high school Spanish teachers for teaching me the phrase 'me duele'). They had trouble figuring out my insurance, but after about 15 minutes of waiting in the lobby, they sent me back to see a doctor. This was like no emergency room I have ever been to in the US. The room they took back to was the doctor's actual office, and my bed was in his office. I sat down and repeated that my ear had been hurting me for a few days, and he asked me if I had been swimming etc. The nurse took my vitals, the doctor looked in my ear, and then he wrote me some prescriptions. (This was all done in Spanish, the doctor told me he knew some English but that he wasn't very good at speaking). He explained all the Prescriptions and care steps in depth and made sure I understood. All in all this took about 20-30 minutes or less. Now apparently the ease of service I experienced still isn't always the 'norm' in Spain, because I went to a private hospital (per my insurance requirements). I haven't filed claims with my insurance yet, but including my hospital 'stay' and my medications I paid about $90.
The doctor told me I should start feeling better in the next few days, and that I was not allowed to seem for 2-3 days. A few weeks ago I had booked a trip down to the south of my island, with a boat tour to see dolphins, whales, etc. I was feeling okay, and since it was non refundable, Thursday night I went ahead and headed down south, especially since it was non-refundable. Once I got down to Costa Adeje I had dinner, and my ear started to get so much worse. I couldn't hear anything, the pain was much more intense, and my other ear was starting to hurt. I went to my hostel and decided I was going to try to sleep off whatever was going on. Well my worst nightmare got even worse when I woke up at about 2am with a bad fever, and even more intense pain than anything I had experienced. There was a hospital about a 7 minute walk from my hostel, so I got up, got dressed and decided to go.
When I got there, I could barely hold back tears. I told the secretary what my problem was (in Spanish), and that I was in so much pain. I told her that I had insurance and I showed her my card. That was when she told me that the hospital couldn't see me unless I paid 250 euros or I had preauthorization from my insurance. I tried to explain to her that my insurance allows me to go to a public hospital in the case of the emergency. She insisted that I needed the authorization. So I went outside and I tried to call the insurance (my call wouldn't go through), so I called my emergency contact from my grant. She told me to go ahead and pay whatever I needed to and we would take care of it later. When I went back in the secretary realized I had a NIE (a special code on my passport that means I'm not a tourist but also not a resident per say) and she allowed me to get the discounted rate of 74 euros plus the cost of whatever pain medicine I needed in the ER; which ended up being 10 euros for the shot I got in my butt for pain. They took me back to my 'room' which again, was just a bed in the doctor's office. He took a look in my ear and in English (this hospital was slightly bilingual) "Wow is big infection". The nurse gave me my shot for pain in the next room, and the doctor gave me my new, stronger prescriptions then they sent me on my way. I walked to a nearby store, bought some water and some snacks (my stomach was a bit upset from the pain medicine), and I took a taxi back to my hostel which cost me about $7. This whole interaction, including the insurance debacle took no more than 30 minutes, and this was a public hospital. I was shocked, because once again it was nothing like any hospital I had been to in the US. Overall, out of pocket, including my ER visit, shot for pain, and the new stronger prescriptions, this visit cost me (before being reimbursed from insurance) approximately $120.
I ended up feeling much better after leaving and the next day. I was even able to go on my boat tour (keep your eyes out for the blog post on my trip). While this was so scary, and extremely painful, I'm proud to have figured out on my own. I still have to now figure out how to make claims with my insurance. I also plan to find a regular doctor's office so next time I can hopefully avoid the emergency room visits. But it turns out, being sick in Spain is not the worse place to be sick.
 |
| The prescriptions were the weirdest I have ever seen The Farmacia also let me keep them afterward |
The doctor told me I should start feeling better in the next few days, and that I was not allowed to seem for 2-3 days. A few weeks ago I had booked a trip down to the south of my island, with a boat tour to see dolphins, whales, etc. I was feeling okay, and since it was non refundable, Thursday night I went ahead and headed down south, especially since it was non-refundable. Once I got down to Costa Adeje I had dinner, and my ear started to get so much worse. I couldn't hear anything, the pain was much more intense, and my other ear was starting to hurt. I went to my hostel and decided I was going to try to sleep off whatever was going on. Well my worst nightmare got even worse when I woke up at about 2am with a bad fever, and even more intense pain than anything I had experienced. There was a hospital about a 7 minute walk from my hostel, so I got up, got dressed and decided to go.
When I got there, I could barely hold back tears. I told the secretary what my problem was (in Spanish), and that I was in so much pain. I told her that I had insurance and I showed her my card. That was when she told me that the hospital couldn't see me unless I paid 250 euros or I had preauthorization from my insurance. I tried to explain to her that my insurance allows me to go to a public hospital in the case of the emergency. She insisted that I needed the authorization. So I went outside and I tried to call the insurance (my call wouldn't go through), so I called my emergency contact from my grant. She told me to go ahead and pay whatever I needed to and we would take care of it later. When I went back in the secretary realized I had a NIE (a special code on my passport that means I'm not a tourist but also not a resident per say) and she allowed me to get the discounted rate of 74 euros plus the cost of whatever pain medicine I needed in the ER; which ended up being 10 euros for the shot I got in my butt for pain. They took me back to my 'room' which again, was just a bed in the doctor's office. He took a look in my ear and in English (this hospital was slightly bilingual) "Wow is big infection". The nurse gave me my shot for pain in the next room, and the doctor gave me my new, stronger prescriptions then they sent me on my way. I walked to a nearby store, bought some water and some snacks (my stomach was a bit upset from the pain medicine), and I took a taxi back to my hostel which cost me about $7. This whole interaction, including the insurance debacle took no more than 30 minutes, and this was a public hospital. I was shocked, because once again it was nothing like any hospital I had been to in the US. Overall, out of pocket, including my ER visit, shot for pain, and the new stronger prescriptions, this visit cost me (before being reimbursed from insurance) approximately $120.
I ended up feeling much better after leaving and the next day. I was even able to go on my boat tour (keep your eyes out for the blog post on my trip). While this was so scary, and extremely painful, I'm proud to have figured out on my own. I still have to now figure out how to make claims with my insurance. I also plan to find a regular doctor's office so next time I can hopefully avoid the emergency room visits. But it turns out, being sick in Spain is not the worse place to be sick.
No comments:
Post a Comment