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How are hospital records and billing managed in European countries?

analog31 6y ago
This was a long time ago, but a relative of mine was hiking in Wales, and got injured. She made it to the next town and found a clinic, where she was treated. Then she asked how she should pay. They were like, pay? You don't pay for medical care. She told them that she wasn't from the UK and therefore wasn't covered by their system. But they said that they had no way of figuring out a price or generating a bill for her. So she went on her merry way.
- Silhouette 6y ago
  We're not quite as generous in the UK as this makes us sound. Anyone interested in more details might find this informative: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/nhs-entitlements-migrant-health-guide https://www.gov.uk/guidance/nhs-entitlements-migrant-health-... The short version is that primary care services like consulting with a GP, visiting a walk-in centre, or emergency treatment in a hospital accident and emergency department are generally free to all, as are various other specific types of care. Most secondary care services such as other hospital treatment are only free to people ordinarily resident in the UK, which roughly means anyone who is an EEA citizen or who has the immigration status of indefinite leave to remain, again with lots of other special cases. Some services, such as dental work and buying prescribed medication, are generally chargeable by default for everyone, though even then the NHS may set standard prices and there are various provisions to help those of limited means or in certain vulnerable groups. But yes, if you have a nasty accident and need to go to hospital as a result, no-one is going to be asking for your credit card number here before sending the ambulance, and if you only need treatment in A&E and don't need to be admitted as an in-patient, you probably would get most or all of your treatment for free even though the equivalent in certain other places would cost a fortune if you didn't have insurance to cover it. There are a lot of reasons we are proud of our NHS here, and this is one of them. Just in case anyone reads this later, let me add a final note that if you're coming here, please check the details for exactly where you're planning to visit. A lot of health policy is devolved, meaning policies can be different in England from in Wales, for example.
mrweasel 6y ago
I'm sure it depends on the country. Denmark currently have five different systems for hospital records, which communicates poorly or not at all. So records from on region has to be manually send to hospitals in other regions. I the future I believe we'll be down to two or three systems, one of which is Epic and the other is developed by a Danish company. As for pay, pretty much as in the US, each visit to a doctor as a value, but the bill is handled by the local region. Denmark has five Regions, each responsible for the healthcare in that geographic area. The regions are given a sum of money by the state each year, to cover the cost of operating the healthcare system and pay for doctors, hospitals, ambulances and so on. It's a little complicated, but for instant: I need to see my doctor tomorrow, he'll be paid a fixed amount for that consultation. A consultation is defined as 12 minutes. That's 12 minutes to say "Hi", diagnose, write a prescription (if needed), talk to me about treatment and document everything.

This was a long time ago, but a relative of mine was hiking in Wales, and got injured. She made it to the next town and found a clinic, where she was treated. Then she asked how she should pay. They were like, pay? You don't pay for medical care. She told them that she wasn't from the UK and therefore wasn't covered by their system. But they said that they had no way of figuring out a price or generating a bill for her. So she went on her merry way.

Silhouette 6y ago
We're not quite as generous in the UK as this makes us sound. Anyone interested in more details might find this informative: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/nhs-entitlements-migrant-health-guide https://www.gov.uk/guidance/nhs-entitlements-migrant-health-... The short version is that primary care services like consulting with a GP, visiting a walk-in centre, or emergency treatment in a hospital accident and emergency department are generally free to all, as are various other specific types of care. Most secondary care services such as other hospital treatment are only free to people ordinarily resident in the UK, which roughly means anyone who is an EEA citizen or who has the immigration status of indefinite leave to remain, again with lots of other special cases. Some services, such as dental work and buying prescribed medication, are generally chargeable by default for everyone, though even then the NHS may set standard prices and there are various provisions to help those of limited means or in certain vulnerable groups. But yes, if you have a nasty accident and need to go to hospital as a result, no-one is going to be asking for your credit card number here before sending the ambulance, and if you only need treatment in A&E and don't need to be admitted as an in-patient, you probably would get most or all of your treatment for free even though the equivalent in certain other places would cost a fortune if you didn't have insurance to cover it. There are a lot of reasons we are proud of our NHS here, and this is one of them. Just in case anyone reads this later, let me add a final note that if you're coming here, please check the details for exactly where you're planning to visit. A lot of health policy is devolved, meaning policies can be different in England from in Wales, for example.

mrweasel 6y ago

I'm sure it depends on the country. Denmark currently have five different systems for hospital records, which communicates poorly or not at all. So records from on region has to be manually send to hospitals in other regions. I the future I believe we'll be down to two or three systems, one of which is Epic and the other is developed by a Danish company. As for pay, pretty much as in the US, each visit to a doctor as a value, but the bill is handled by the local region. Denmark has five Regions, each responsible for the healthcare in that geographic area. The regions are given a sum of money by the state each year, to cover the cost of operating the healthcare system and pay for doctors, hospitals, ambulances and so on. It's a little complicated, but for instant: I need to see my doctor tomorrow, he'll be paid a fixed amount for that consultation. A consultation is defined as 12 minutes. That's 12 minutes to say "Hi", diagnose, write a prescription (if needed), talk to me about treatment and document everything.