Clinic in Texas (Apr 6, 2013)

[日本語]
[汉语]

A few days ago, I caught cold and went to clinic.

I searched website of insurance company and found "in-network" urgent care clinic near my house.
In US, if I go to "out-of-network" clinic, that means there is no contract between insurance company and the clinic about the coverate, often resulting in higher out of pocket expense.

After I arrived at the clinic, there was paper work (insurance information, patient information, reason of visit, medical history).
While I was filling in the papers, receptionist at the clinic made inquiry to insurance company for coverage.
Receptionist calculated my out of pocket expense as $100 and I paid immediately by credit card (a few weeks later, I found this $100 was reduced to $50 in insurance company website and a check was sent from this clinic to me for refund).

Next, I was called by lab technician ("radiological tech" in his name tag) and went to a consultation room.
Interior of the consultation room was quite normal, compared to all white interior often seen in hospitals in Japan.

Medical examination was performed first by the lab technician verbally, then he came back with swab for flu test and strep test.
10 to 15 minutes later, a physician arrived with test results, and it turned out to be strep test positive.
She prescribed antibiotics for 5 days (2 tablet today and 1 tablets each for 4 days) and also gave me instruction to change tooth brush at day 3 from today.

I went to drug store with the prescription and submitted to a CPHT (Certified Pharmacy Technician).
20 minutes later, I received antibiotics from a pharmacist.

When I opened the box of antibiotics, tablets were preset as instruction by the physician.
This would reduce error at patient side, such as taking wrong number of tablets or forgetting taking medication.