During my last visit to China, I came down with a sinus infection in the first week of my two week visit. After using up everything in my travel bag, and things weren’t getting better, I decided it was time to go see a doctor.
My Chinese host knew I wasn’t feeling well and after explaining the situation to him, he made arrangements to take me to the emergency room at the local hospital. We walked in and stood in the appropriate line, which to my surprise only took about 10 minutes. I was checked in and given a small plastic card the size of a credit card. I asked my host about it and he said the card had all my information on it and that I would present it to the doctor, etc.
It took about 10 minutes to get to the doctor’s office upstairs. I checked in with the nurse and gave her the plastic card. She took my temperature and found that I was not running a fever. We were asked to have a seat and within a few minutes the doctor came out. My host and I followed him into his office and he began to ask me questions about how I felt, etc. After checking my throat, ears, and breathing, he agreed I had a sinus infection. He took the plastic card and inserted it into a drive and began typing away. A few minutes later we were shaking hands, I thanked him, and we went downstairs to the pharmacy.
I handed the plastic card to a lady at the desk and was told to take a seat while they filled the prescription. Within 10 minutes they called my name, we went to the desk, got the prescription, paid the bill and left. The doctor had given me an antibiotic and a decongestant. The total bill (doctor visit and prescription) was 50 RMB, which amounts to a little more than $7.00. The whole experience took less than an hour including travel time to and from the hospital.