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I live in the US and am currently in Poland with my wife and 1-year-old visiting friends and family. Shortly after arriving, my son got a bad enough fever that

by dougk16 14y ago

I live in the US and am currently in Poland with my wife and 1-year-old visiting friends and family. Shortly after arriving, my son got a bad enough fever that we sought medical care. This past Monday night, at 9PM, an hour after the call, in the suburbs of a mid-sized city, a doctor came to our house and treated him (he's fine now). Cost us 140 zlots, or about 45 bucks. No bullshit paperwork where you fill out your name and address 4 times either...quick, professional, in and out. I experience situations like this again and again while travelling abroad from the US, but this one put me in shock.

danielharan 14y ago
It seems... civilized.
OGinparadise 14y ago
Yes, but how much is $45 in Poland? You can find clinics in USA that treat you for a flat $50-$100 fee, problem is specialized care.
- gambiting 14y ago
  It's an equivalent of 2 days of work for an average person. But my dad had to have few operations for cancer,and now takes a very expensive drug called Glivec($3000 for a box of 30 pills, needs two boxes per month), everything is completely refunded by the government as a part of public health care. He also needs to travel to Warsaw at least once per month to pick up his medicine from the hospital there(you can only do it in person because of how much it costs), which means he has to take a 4 hour train journey - he gets it completely refunded.
- dougk16 14y ago
  Fair enough point...it's actually more like ~$100 in a relative sense, as far as my working experience in Poland went. But even saying it's the same relative price as in America, consider that this is a foreigner, calling at 8PM for a 9PM home appointment, very quick paperwork, and cash payment like the doctor delivered a pizza (we even tipped her). Everyone else here that I know has public healthcare that's largely reimbursed, so they were actually appalled by the price...go figure.
sageikosa 14y ago
I would love to see how rarely doctors are sued for malpractice in Poland. Probably very little if at all.

by dougk16 14y ago

danielharan 14y ago

It seems... civilized.

OGinparadise 14y ago

Yes, but how much is $45 in Poland? You can find clinics in USA that treat you for a flat $50-$100 fee, problem is specialized care.

gambiting 14y ago
It's an equivalent of 2 days of work for an average person. But my dad had to have few operations for cancer,and now takes a very expensive drug called Glivec($3000 for a box of 30 pills, needs two boxes per month), everything is completely refunded by the government as a part of public health care. He also needs to travel to Warsaw at least once per month to pick up his medicine from the hospital there(you can only do it in person because of how much it costs), which means he has to take a 4 hour train journey - he gets it completely refunded.
dougk16 14y ago
Fair enough point...it's actually more like ~$100 in a relative sense, as far as my working experience in Poland went. But even saying it's the same relative price as in America, consider that this is a foreigner, calling at 8PM for a 9PM home appointment, very quick paperwork, and cash payment like the doctor delivered a pizza (we even tipped her). Everyone else here that I know has public healthcare that's largely reimbursed, so they were actually appalled by the price...go figure.

sageikosa 14y ago

I would love to see how rarely doctors are sued for malpractice in Poland. Probably very little if at all.