New Doctor Ajijic

[Xena]

18 minutes ago, El Cartero said:

Fees for what?   First time visit?  The local drs are or we're 500 pesos a visit.   The numbers are pointless because some drs will see you, prescribe a blood exam, have you back even when the results are positive, charge again, then want stool and urine samples, charge you again and so on.  Fees in my opinion are not relevant - being a cash cow is.    If you are so concerned about price phone and ask, don't rely on others because all your questions differ.

 

I still want to know what the fee is for each time I go to the doctor. I still do not know what this doctor's office visit costs. Is it $500 or $750 or $1000? I still find it odd that no one will say. Fees ARE relevant and so is how the doctor levies them. I'm done.

[Zeb]

The question was-- what is the office fee.  I believe people are asking for a first visit consultation fee as well as a normal follow up fee, not what all the fees are for additional labs and services that may required.  These are typical questions which, I believe, people who visited should be able to answer. 

[dcstroker]

Since I needed to make an appointment to see a doctor this thread is timely for me. Called this morning and got an appointment for this afternoon. Asked and was told that the fee for the first visit is 600 pesos. Easy. Will give my impressions later.

[FlyFree]

11 minutes ago, dcstroker said:

Since I needed to make an appointment to see a doctor this thread is timely for me. Called this morning and got an appointment for this afternoon. Asked and was told that the fee for the first visit is 600 pesos. Easy. Will give my impressions later.

Also, can you find out if he accepts credit card payments. Thanks.

[Lexy]

Dr. Whitehurst is saying in his email annoucement that he is affiliated with Mascaras. I called the receptionist at Maskaras and she confirms this, but that he is working out of his own place in La Floresta. I asked her what is fee was. She said, Hmmm, I do not know, but I will give you his phone number to call him directly. In my past experience with Maskaras specialists, as I recall, the receptionist could give you the specialist's fee. I used to go regularly to the orthopedist there, but have had to reason to go there lately.

With Dr. Whitehurst, two things are different from the other specialists coming in from Guad: 1. You set up an appointment directly with Dr. Whitehurst and 2. Only Whitehurst's office can give you his fee apparently.

Lexy

[bdmowers]

59 minutes ago, dcstroker said:

Since I needed to make an appointment to see a doctor this thread is timely for me. Called this morning and got an appointment for this afternoon. Asked and was told that the fee for the first visit is 600 pesos. Easy. Will give my impressions later.

Is this a normal initial visit fee for doctors here? I`ve always used Ajijic Clinic across from Gossips and they have raised their fee recently  to 250 pesos for an initial visit.

[Al Berca]

The patient case load at Maskaras has grown too large for Dr. Garcia to handle alone. Rather than not accept new patients, Dr. Garcia has interviewed and selected two other primary care physicians to be affiliated with and have full use of the Maskaras Clinic facilities. One works part time at the clinic and Dr. Whitehurst has chosen to see patients at his home office in La Floresta.

[ned small]

1 hour ago, dcstroker said:

Since I needed to make an appointment to see a doctor this thread is timely for me. Called this morning and got an appointment for this afternoon. Asked and was told that the fee for the first visit is 600 pesos. Easy. Will give my impressions later.

Apparently practicing and training in the USA warrants a GP to have the same fee as most specialists charge here and way more than most Mexican GP's some of who are excellent and have been practicing here for many years. My GP[actually a Pediatrician] charges me $250p and yes he speaks English.If I need a Specialist he gives me a name and I make my own appointment. Unlike NOB you don't need a GP to see a specialist but NOB trained GP's would like you to think that that is better and have started calling themselves primary care Physicians instead of GP's.

[ned small]

19 minutes ago, bdmowers said:

Is this a normal initial visit fee for doctors here? I`ve always used Ajijic Clinic across from Gossips and they have raised their fee recently  to 250 pesos for an initial visit.

Usually that's the normal fee for a specialist not a GP. You paid what is considered the norm for a GP.

[ned small]

1 hour ago, Lexy said:

Dr. Whitehurst is saying in his email annoucement that he is affiliated with Mascaras. I called the receptionist at Maskaras and she confirms this, but that he is working out of his own place in La Floresta. I asked her what is fee was. She said, Hmmm, I do not know, but I will give you his phone number to call him directly. In my past experience with Maskaras specialists, as I recall, the receptionist could give you the specialist's fee. I used to go regularly to the orthopedist there, but have had to reason to go there lately.

With Dr. Whitehurst, two things are different from the other specialists coming in from Guad: 1. You set up an appointment directly with Dr. Whitehurst and 2. Only Whitehurst's office can give you his fee apparently.

Lexy

You can set up an appointment with any "specialist" from Guadaljara "directly",some of who maintain regular practices here as well.. According to Dr. Whitehurst's bio he is not a "specialist" but is maintaining a "general practice" like he did NOB.

 

[Lexy]

7 minutes ago, ned small said:

You can set up an appointment with any "specialist",some of who maintain regular practices here as well,  directly. According to Dr. Whitehead's bio he is not a "specialist" but is maintaining a general practice like he did NOB.

A GP or internist or family doctor--whatever you call it--IS a specialist. Dr Whitehouse refers to himself as a "family physician." That's his specialty.

Here at Lakeside, the fees charged by family physicians vary, as attested by several people on this forum. A family doctor at Ajijic Clinic is less expensive than one, say, at Quality Care clinic. One may or may not be better than the other.

If Dr. Whitehouse's fee is, as noted on this forum, 600 pesos, that puts him on the high end of family physicians available at Lakeside.

Lexy.

 

[barcelonaman]

not as high as the 1200pesos i paid to a clown in chapala.. 25 minutes chat less than 5 mins exam.

[ned small]

43 minutes ago, Lexy said:

A GP or internist or family doctor--whatever you call it--IS a specialist. Dr Whitehouse refers to himself as a "family physician." That's his specialty.

Here at Lakeside, the fees charged by family physicians vary, as attested by several people on this forum. A family doctor at Ajijic Clinic is less expensive than one, say, at Quality Care clinic. One may or may not be better than the other.

If Dr. Whitehouse's fee is, as noted on this forum, 600 pesos, that puts him on the high end of family physicians available at Lakeside.

Lexy.

 

His own bio states he is not a specialist as no GP is. They have no extra training and none that I know of claim to be on the same level as Cardiologists,Orthopedic Surgeons,Ophthalmologists and even [gasp] Proctologists and many other real specialists.All his high fee of 600pesos does is reflect that he wishes to charge as close as he can to what he did NOB and it does not reflect his expertise in any way shape or form. I am sure there are many Mexican trained physicians here who are equal to and or superior. I knew a Husband and wife team of doctors who were well know because they were researchers with the Banting institute and their son came to University of Guadalajara for his training beginnings because it's a world renowned school of medicine. He ended up staying in Mexico.Y ou have been here for a while Lexy so have you been to him and a few other GP'S here that you can compare him to. Some GP's take additional courses in areas that interest them but don't do the extra years and internships that allows them to use a term like specialist. Dr. Lastra is an example of that as he decided to be known for the treatment of pain which he is very good at having taken a lot of extra courses to make him competent in that endevour.

[Lulugirl]

1 hour ago, ned small said:

Apparently practicing and training in the USA warrants a GP to have the same fee as most specialists charge here and way more than most Mexican GP's some of who are excellent and have been practicing here for many years. My GP[actually a Pediatrician] charges me $250p and yes he speaks English.If I need a Specialist he gives me a name and I make my own appointment. Unlike NOB you don't need a GP to see a specialist but NOB trained GP's would like you to think that that is better and have started calling themselves primary care Physicians instead of GP's.

You go to a pediatrician?  

[ned small]

1 minute ago, Lulugirl said:

You go to a pediatrician?  

Yes,I thought it was funny too but my friend and his wife were going to him for GP things and recommended him and he was right.Dr. Oscar is darn good at what he does. I'm sure he's good at Pediatrics too.

[ned small]

1 hour ago, barcelonaman said:

not as high as the 1200pesos i paid to a clown in chapala.. 25 minutes chat less than 5 mins exam.

But according to that criteria that clown should be twice as good as the new doc-no?

[Lexy]

1 hour ago, ned small said:

His own bio states he is not a specialist as no GP is. They have no extra training and none that I know of claim to be on the same level as Cardiologists,Orthopedic Surgeons,Ophthalmologists and even [gasp] Proctologists and many other real specialists.All his high fee of 600pesos does is reflect that he wishes to charge as close as he can to what he did NOB and it does not reflect his expertise in any way shape or form. I am sure there are many Mexican trained physicians here who are equal to and or superior. I knew a Husband and wife team of doctors who were well know because they were researchers with the Banting institute and their son came to University of Guadalajara for his training beginnings because it's a world renowned school of medicine. He ended up staying in Mexico.Y ou have been here for a while Lexy so have you been to him and a few other GP'S here that you can compare him to. Some GP's take additional courses in areas that interest them but don't do the extra years and internships that allows them to use a term like specialist. Dr. Lastra is an example of that as he decided to be known for the treatment of pain which he is very good at having taken a lot of extra courses to make him competent in that endevour.

A GP or internist or family doctor--whatever you call it--IS a specialist.

But ah, Ned Stone has spoken. Must admit I couldn't get beyond the first sentence.

To quote Zena: I'm done.

Lexy

[barcelonaman]

Doesnt seem to work that way ned. I was astounded at his advice on how to relieve stress. Good job i have a broad mind and sense of humor.

[Bill Hely]

As far as general usage of the term is concerned I'd have to agree with Ned Small on this one, but it does get somewhat pedantic.

To the best of my knowledge nowhere in the western world is a GP generally referred to as a specialist. The "G" in GP stands for GENERAL practitioner. When the medical problem it is too intricate the GP refers the patient onto a SPECIALIST.

But as I said, that's general usage.

But it does seem that the medical bureaucracy recognises a "Specialist General Practitioner". Check out the PDF pointed to in this URL:
http://www.medicalboard.gov.au/Registration/Types/Specialist-Registration/Medical-Specialties-and-Specialty-Fields.aspx  That's from an Australian Government website but I doubt you'll find much difference in the USA or the UK or any other significantly Western country.

But after looking at the results of several Google searches it is apparent that for every argument supporting one definition, you can find an equally convincing argument supporting the opposition. Try this on for size: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1495225/

Personally I'll stick to the position that, in general usage, a GENERAL Practitioner is not a SPECIALIST.

[dcstroker]

Well I said I would report back after my appointment with Dr. Whitehouse. I like him. I was there about 45 min. going over my past health history and the problem that I am having now. I have to have some additional tests taken that can be done by any of the labs here in town. It appears he has a system where he will e-mail me with results of my tests and the treatment necessary, which works out great for me.

His fee for the visit was 600 pesos, which I felt was very reasonable. There was a sign on the desk that stated they did take credit cards.

On a humorous side note I was struck by the age of the magazines in his office. I'm sure you've all seen jokes and cartoons about the age of the reading material in doctor's and dentists offices well some of his are about 20 years old at least. Since he's only been there about 3 weeks I'll give him some slack or maybe take some more up to date material the next time I  go in.

[Newjersey expat]

16 hours ago, Bill Hely said:

As far as general usage of the term is concerned I'd have to agree with Ned Small on this one, but it does get somewhat pedantic.

To the best of my knowledge nowhere in the western world is a GP generally referred to as a specialist. The "G" in GP stands for GENERAL practitioner. When the medical problem it is too intricate the GP refers the patient onto a SPECIALIST.

But as I said, that's general usage.

But it does seem that the medical bureaucracy recognises a "Specialist General Practitioner". Check out the PDF pointed to in this URL:
http://www.medicalboard.gov.au/Registration/Types/Specialist-Registration/Medical-Specialties-and-Specialty-Fields.aspx  That's from an Australian Government website but I doubt you'll find much difference in the USA or the UK or any other significantly Western country.

But after looking at the results of several Google searches it is apparent that for every argument supporting one definition, you can find an equally convincing argument supporting the opposition. Try this on for size: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1495225/

Personally I'll stick to the position that, in general usage, a GENERAL Practitioner is not a SPECIALIST.

That is why it is called Generalist....He/'she practices in most areas,contacting a Specialist if needed.