IndianMaze

Priya (name changed) was suffering from an ear ache post her flight. She normally does not suffer from ear ache during air journeys. On reaching home, she mentioned this to her mother. They decided to pay a visit to a doctor as it was an unusual complaint. Then onwards an interesting story started. To cut a long story short, the emphasis was to go to the best doctor in the best hospital in the neighborhood. They finally went to an ENT surgeon in a very reputed (5 star variety) hospital and came back with a great satisfaction. Doctor prescribed an antibiotic ear drop and a pain killer if required. Hospital charges were Rs 300 (US$ 5) for registration and Rs 600 (US$ 10) for specialist consultation and Rs 25 for medicines (antibiotic and pain killer). After 3 times usage of antibiotic drops she was all right and did not need any pain killers. This raises a vital question in  my mind! Why do consumers look for a specialist doctor when a normal GP would do the job at perhaps m...

The readers of this blog get to know of all the malaise in the society and rest through the eyes of others. I happen to be one of them till recently. I fell ill (no big deal) and went to an upmarket hospital where I was treated with respect, comfort and a long list of tests and medicines. The total cost of well over Rs 2,500. Problem increased and I got H1N1 test done. It came positive. Now there was no way but to go to a "Government" hospital and I must say that I was very pleasantly surprised with the efficiency, professionalism and the attitude of the staff. There were no queues ( at a time when most patients dare to go out and private doctors asleep) and the doctor on duty was very courteous. Apart from a routine check, he asked if I was a registered patient and hearing that I had not, he politely pointed me to the registration counter and showed me the kind of form to be filled. On reaching the counter, I was guided properly, offered a pen and the person behind the count...