The Enhanced Doctor-Chapter 833: The Patient Comes First

(Thanks to Langrutie83 and You Wenrou for voicing support with monthly tickets)

"Teacher Liu, after today's medication, Rou's emotions have become more stable, and she can talk now."

Liu Yiqing ran down from the VIP ward upstairs, excitedly reporting.

"It looks like our impact therapy is quite effective, and we can adjust its impact on her mental state, which is great." Liu Banxia said with a smile.

Indeed, it's good news. His biggest worry was also about the mental impact. Today is only the second day of treatment, and the results are already quite impressive.

To him, this is beyond expectations.

"Teacher Liu, I want to tell you something." Liu Yiqing asked somewhat nervously.

"What's up? Why are you being so secretive?" Liu Banxia asked curiously.

"That Chairman Bao, he gave me a bracelet this morning, but I didn't dare to accept it." Liu Yiqing said softly.

Liu Banxia frowned, "Hmm… what do you think about this? Should I send Xu Yino up instead?"

"Oh no, Teacher Liu, you misunderstood. He doesn't have those intentions; he just feels grateful that Rou can talk to me, even though she doesn't talk to others." Liu Yiqing quickly clarified.

Liu Banxia's mood relaxed a bit, luckily it didn't develop into the melodramatic direction he had imagined.

It's not surprising his thoughts were a bit complicated; such things are quite common in hospitals. Having money isn't a big deal, but it can indeed do a lot.

"Teacher Liu, why are you laughing? Why aren't you saying anything?" Liu Yiqing asked, somewhat frustrated.

"It's nothing, it seems you've earned genuine friendship from their family." Liu Banxia said with a smile.

"Actually, it's good not to accept it. After all, we're still in the treatment phase, so don't let this affect you. Your private friendship with Rou in the future is between you two; others won't interfere."

"But I'm quite puzzled why Rou finds me scary at first sight. Do I look like a bad person? How did you two click so quickly?"

Liu Yiqing shook her head blankly, "I don't know either, I just feel Rou is very pitiful, I didn't do anything special."

"That's why human intuition is really important sometimes. Your thoughts are very simple, and you easily invest your emotions into patients." Liu Banxia said.

"This is a double-edged sword. I used to want to help you change, but now, you're happy playing your way. Everyone has their pros and cons, like how I enjoy joking with patients."

"Every doctor has their own habits in consultations, don't overthink so much. As long as the patient can accept it and cooperate in exams and treatments, that's the best outcome."

Liu Yiqing nodded a bit sheepishly. She really does have this situation, and Liu Banxia has subtly hinted several times.

But such a personality isn't something that can be changed easily, like how she feels angry when seeing a girl who was beaten.

"Teacher Liu, it seems someone booked your appointment." At this moment, there's an alert on Liu Banxia's computer, Liu Yiqing quickly said.

Liu Banxia glanced at it, "A rectal cancer patient I saw yesterday, where did Xu Yino wander off to again? Let's go for the consultation, then you can go back upstairs."

Liu Yiqing nodded quickly, helping Liu Banxia with his things.

This time it's not just the patient, but the whole family came together.

"Have you thought it over?" Liu Banxia asked.

"Doctor, we still want to try preserving the anus. If we can preserve it, if there are complications later, can they be treated?" The patient asked.

"That depends on the actual situation in the future, mainly on what the complications relate to. Some complications disappear after digging out the anus, some do not." Liu Banxia replied.

"That's why I repeatedly emphasized this to you when you came. Frankly speaking, the human body is really mysterious; even we doctors cannot grasp it clearly."

"If you've decided on the anus-preserving surgery, we can do it. We'll admit you to the hospital today, start pre-surgical exams tomorrow, and if everything is clear, we can perform surgery in three days."

"But we also need to explain clearly to you, our instrumental exams ultimately have some limitations. If we find we can't preserve it during surgery, we'll inform you and rearrange the treatment."

"Furthermore, once the pathology results come out later, we need to assess the situation. There's too much uncertainty, but we can say the success rate of preserving the anus is quite high."

"Doctor, even after a MRI scan, can't see it?" The patient's son asked.

Liu Banxia nodded, "Imaging exams are merely an auxiliary means; these instruments have their precision levels. When the lesion is small, beyond the scope of the instrument, all we can do is see on-site."

"Even on-site it might be invisible; we can only wait for sampling's pathology results. When your father came, I mentioned all possible scenarios had been explained to you truthfully."

"Regardless, it has to be done. You suffer either once or twice." The patient spoke.

Liu Banxia nodded, "Having that mindset is excellent. Thankfully, current medical technology is quite advanced, survival rates for rectal cancer are very encouraging."

"From another perspective, we're making the greatest effort to preserve life. Your case is already quite good; many discover it only in the late stages."

"There are two surgical approaches: one is laparoscopic, with a smaller incision but higher cost; the other is a regular open surgery, with a larger incision but lower expenses."

"The principles and results are identical, just different methods of openings and operations. Later our doctors will also provide detailed explanations, and then you can make your choice."

"Doctor, how much different would that cost?" The patient asked.

"This depends on different circumstances, but based on your lesion's position, approximately a difference of ten thousand yuan, only for surgical costs." Liu Banxia replied.

"You're considering self-pay, medical insurance, commercial insurance, and your future medication, and hospitalization costs will have differences."

"Doctor, would a self-pay surgery have lower costs compared to someone with insurance?" The patient's son asked.

"That's similarly incomparable, it's a misconception created externally." Liu Banxia explained.

"When you have insurance, we prioritize usage of insurance-covered medications, because they are refundable for you and also subsidized by the state. On the price list, it seems more expensive than self-pay medications."

"For self-pay medicines, when it involves choosing between domestic and imported drugs, we'll consult you, as price differences can be substantial."

"For other unremarkable medication, we generally take charge, choosing the lower priced options. But at hospital admission, you need to decide which consultation method as changing mid-stream is troublesome."

"It's best to utilize insurance if you have it. Compensation rates are high these days; I've yet to see anyone with insurance choose self-pay instead."

"Ah... just heard that with insurance they demand more money, but actually the final expense is similar, and the medicine's not great." The patient sighed.

Liu Banxia laughed, "Hence I say it's a misconception; you can't evaluate like this. We're addressing the illness, not whether the patient has insurance or not."

Seems like the patient recently did thorough "basic research," otherwise they wouldn't have had such thoughts.

But really, such thoughts are unnecessary, they don't need to worry.

"I'll choose the regular open surgery; saving a bit counts. Unsure if I might need another surgery in the future, still costly then." The patient decided.

Liu Banxia nodded, "So these decisions are yours to make, everything follows your decision. Let's start with admission procedures, exams tomorrow. We'll confirm the surgery time from the exam results."

This matter is wrapped up, compared to emergency consultations, sitting here is relaxed while talking openly with patients and family.

People have many misconceptions about hospital treatments, especially surgical treatment. They only see the total expenses post-recovery, thinking the surgical costs are high.

Actually, a large part of the expense comes from post-surgery recovery; some medications and apparatus cannot be refunded by insurance.

Prices are set by the Price Bureau, no hospital dares to randomly mark up. Of course, except some unscrupulous ones, they may recklessly use materials during surgery.

What's worse, during some surgeries might ask you to swipe the card to add items mid-operation, not rarely reported in news.

Such situations basically don't happen in big hospitals.

Simply put, patients number in big hospitals is high, no one would risk to ruin their brand. Earning money straightforwardly is already busy, why resort to shady tactics?

Once the issue with this patient is clarified, Liu Yiqing returns to the VIP ward upstairs to monitor Rou.

The impact therapy is effective, but cannot dismiss certain level of risks.

Liu Banxia glanced at the computer, feeling slightly frustrated. Today might just be this patient again, yet he's really grown to enjoy consultations now.

Unlike before when working in other departments, now consultations feel like a break. Perhaps aside from performing surgeries, this might be why surgeons find it slightly easier than physicians.