Japanese Clinics vs. American Clinics
As was mentioned in the last post, I hurt my back the other day when I was trying to lift something. After close to a month of it not getting better, we finally decided that maybe it was time for me to go see a doctor. I ended up going back to the doctor a few more times to get LLLT, which is low level laser therapy – a very interesting and seemingly effective procedure where the doctor presses a laser beam into your skin and it somehow heals your muscles. I am happy to report that I am now feeling as good as new and am back to being able to lift all sorts of things from lampposts to couches to even certain types of small cars! Okay, okay, so maybe I can’t lift any of those things, but still, I feel great!
This is similar to what my laser machine looked like.
Going to the doctor’s office, particularly a few times in a row, made me aware of the differences between a Japanese and American clinic, aside from the obvious fact that one is in Japanese and the other in English. One of the first differences you encounter is that in Japan, you generally don’t have to make an appointment – you just go. This took awhile to get used to but it turns out it can be a very convenient thing. Since there is no set time for you to come, it doesn’t matter if you’re running late or early, and if you suddenly don’t feel like going or find out that you have no money, it’s not a problem! However, on the flip side, if you hit a particularly busy day, you might end up waiting at the doctor’s office the whole morning before you’re seen. But, then again, don’t we wait quite a bit in the US too?
Another big difference here in Japan is the price. Compared to America, it is quite cheap. There are two reasons. First, doctors don’t need to have extensive malpractice insurance. If something doesn’t work out with the treatment, it doesn’t even enter most Japanese people’s minds to sue their doctor. The doctor is the expert and if something happens to go wrong, it must be because of fate. Certainly, doctors here do malpractice and are held accountable, but not by the outrageous lawsuits that we have in the US. The second reason is that Japan has a socialized system. Everyone is part of the national medical coverage. Prices for the most part seem to be fairly similar. And everyone cooperates and works together to make the system work. Despite the low costs, Japan has some of the best healthcare in the world. For my four visits to the doctor’s office, which included an x-ray, a full exam, 3 prescriptions, and four sessions of laser therapy treatment, the total came to a whopping $86! Yes, $86. And, it was only that high because we had to pay 100% in cash. If I were a Japanese person, I would have paid only 30%-50% of that, with the government program picking up the rest. Colby said that while he was waiting for me, he heard one older woman on a fixed income (and therefore in the lowest cost bracket) be asked to pay $1.50 for her visit!
The last major difference that I noticed is that the Japanese do not seem to be as concerned about privacy as Americans are. When I went to have my blood pressure checked, it was done in an open exam room where one woman was lying on a cot waiting for the doctor, and she could clearly hear it when the nurse told me my blood pressure numbers. (I was glad they didn’t weigh me!) Instead of walls and doors between exam rooms, areas were sectioned off with curtains, thus making it possible to hear everything said around you. I had to chuckle at the thought of how many Americans might feel uncomfortable in this kind of setting. I guess in a place where everyone lives so close together and going to a public bath is held in high regard, there just aren’t the same inhibitions and privacy rules that I have grown up with. This is part of what ‘foreign’ country means – not bad, just very different.
Colby and I have felt very blessed to be here in this foreign country. Please pray for us that we would continually seek to be culturally sensitive and have many opportunities to show God’s love to the Japanese.