For all of its good points, one thing that one sorely misses in Indonesia is the systematic competence we take for granted in America. Getting a prescription filled for a medication, for instance, is a fairly simple thing back home. Your doctor's office calls the prescription into the pharmacy of your choice (I used to use the neighborhood Fred Meyer store) and then you go pick up the medication. Done.
Not so in Indonesia. I have taken for the last year a medication called pregabalin for a chronic MS symptom, but do you think the hospital can get this straight? No, they can't.
For one thing, there is no calling the doctor and having him send the Rx to a pharmacy. No such thing. No. What the doctor told me is that I must call the ER, tell them that I need the Rx from the doctor, then they are to call the doctor. The doctor then writes the Rx (whenever he gets around to it, if he remembers) and then sends it down to the ER. They are then to call me, at which point I must drive to the hospital myself, pick up the Rx and take it to a pharmacy of my choice. (I could fill the Rx at the hospital, but I have been warned, by the hospital, that they charge roughly twice the price of a local pharmacy).
If this sounds complicated, it is really only the beginning of complications. Yesterday morning, I dutifully contacted the ER (and contacted the doctor as well just to give him a heads up). Naturally, they had no recollection and no record of this common transaction. (Records? What are those?). Well, the ER said they would contact the doctor tout suite and then inform me as soon as they had the Rx. The day passed and ended and became the next day. I called again in the morning. They had no idea what I was talking about. Pre-what-a-lin? Nonetheless, they said they would contact the doctor and get back to me as soon as the Rx was ready. A couple hours later, I called the doctor myself and he said that he had not heard from the ER until their call this morning.
But Doc, I called you yesterday about this.
Yes, but must go through the ER first.
Sigh.
And these are just the preliminary steps before going to the pharmacy, folks; which was, this time around, a particularly distasteful task given the coronavirus situation and the usual crowd of sick people at the pharmacy. Now, each time they must do a time-consuming price check and inform me of the price before proceeding to the long process of actually filling the Rx, even though I have told them that I already know the price and they can just go ahead and fill it. No cannot. Must check first.
Rather than hang around in this possibly contagious environment, I left the Rx with them (after waiting for the necessary price check, of course) and drove over to the mall, which was at least deserted and more likely to be infection free than the pharmacy.
So basically it took me two days to get my prescription.
That is the 'system' in Indonesia.
Not so in Indonesia. I have taken for the last year a medication called pregabalin for a chronic MS symptom, but do you think the hospital can get this straight? No, they can't.
For one thing, there is no calling the doctor and having him send the Rx to a pharmacy. No such thing. No. What the doctor told me is that I must call the ER, tell them that I need the Rx from the doctor, then they are to call the doctor. The doctor then writes the Rx (whenever he gets around to it, if he remembers) and then sends it down to the ER. They are then to call me, at which point I must drive to the hospital myself, pick up the Rx and take it to a pharmacy of my choice. (I could fill the Rx at the hospital, but I have been warned, by the hospital, that they charge roughly twice the price of a local pharmacy).
If this sounds complicated, it is really only the beginning of complications. Yesterday morning, I dutifully contacted the ER (and contacted the doctor as well just to give him a heads up). Naturally, they had no recollection and no record of this common transaction. (Records? What are those?). Well, the ER said they would contact the doctor tout suite and then inform me as soon as they had the Rx. The day passed and ended and became the next day. I called again in the morning. They had no idea what I was talking about. Pre-what-a-lin? Nonetheless, they said they would contact the doctor and get back to me as soon as the Rx was ready. A couple hours later, I called the doctor myself and he said that he had not heard from the ER until their call this morning.
But Doc, I called you yesterday about this.
Yes, but must go through the ER first.
Sigh.
And these are just the preliminary steps before going to the pharmacy, folks; which was, this time around, a particularly distasteful task given the coronavirus situation and the usual crowd of sick people at the pharmacy. Now, each time they must do a time-consuming price check and inform me of the price before proceeding to the long process of actually filling the Rx, even though I have told them that I already know the price and they can just go ahead and fill it. No cannot. Must check first.
Rather than hang around in this possibly contagious environment, I left the Rx with them (after waiting for the necessary price check, of course) and drove over to the mall, which was at least deserted and more likely to be infection free than the pharmacy.
So basically it took me two days to get my prescription.
That is the 'system' in Indonesia.
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