Privately-operated night outpatient services- an alternative to public emergency ward services
Private hospitals and medical centres are competing for a growing share of the night outpatient services.
They are providing a veritable alternative to public emergency ward services for the budget conscious.
This was borne out in a Consumer Council survey on 12 private hospitals and 15 private medical centres operating night and overnight outpatient services.
The survey found that in one case, the consultation fee for senior citizens of 60 years or above was as low as $100. A few others charged $120.
This is comparable to the $100 fee which the Government has introduced for outpatient services at public hospital accident and emergency wards since November 2002.
In general, the charges by privately-operated night outpatient services are higher than those by public medical services, but the waiting time is shorter. One estimate puts the average waiting time at private medical centres from 5 minutes to 1 hour.
Among the 12 private hospitals surveyed, the consultation fees for general outpatients after 9:00 p.m. and before midnight ranged from $150 to $400, and progressed between $200 to $800 for overnight services. Generally, where outpatient services are provided at private hospitals after midnight, the charges are $30 to $260 higher.
Only 2 of the hospitals included medications, for 2-3 days, as part of the consultation fees. Others billed medications separately.
Special discount rates were clearly stated by 3 of the hospitals to senior citizens aged 60 or above, ranging from 10% to 20% for consultation, medication, and laboratory tests. Or, a deduction of a flat $20 directly from the fees payable.
In the case of the 15 private medical centres surveyed, the consultation fees ranged from $150 to $260 and all with 2-3 day medications included.
With the exception of one medical centre which charged $50 higher for after-midnight service, the consultation fees are, unlike their private hospital counterparts, the same throughout the period.
In addition, 9 offered special discount to senior citizens who pay $10 to $100 less, bringing the consultation fees to as low as $100 to $198.
Among the 15 medical centres, 8 provide overnight outpatient services and 7 operate till 10:00 p.m. or midnight or 1:30 a.m.
Survey points to ways for improved consumer satisfaction in broadband internet services
When it comes to selecting a broadband internet service, consumers desire nothing less than the highest speed at the lowest fees.
Speed and fees, according to a Consumer Council survey on some 2,000 broadband internet users, are what they (90%) want most from their service providers. Some (12%), however, prefer offers with free gifts.
In practice, 31% of the respondents did choose their service providers because of the low fees, and 25.7% relied on word-of-mouth in their choice.
Some one-fifth of the respondents were approached by salesman, a common marketing tactic by broadband providers - 12.6% were persuaded into the transactions by salesmen at the door or on the phone, and 8.2% in the streets.
The salesman approach, however, generally resulted in a lower overall consumer satisfaction rate.
Consumers were of the view that the information, provided through salesmen or documents such as the service agreement and application form, was insufficient and unclear. In particular, nearly half of the respondents (48.7%) were not clearly informed with regard to the renewal or otherwise of the contract upon expiry.
The survey found 33% of the respondents used their service provider hotlines for technical support service (such as installation and surfing problems, email box settings) in the past 3 months.
For those who could get through the hotlines, 71% found such a service useful. But a high 42% found it difficult to connect to the hotlines, thus being deprived of this much needed support service.
Common among the consumer complaints which the Council received relating to broadband internet services are : quality of service (speed, service, access to hotline, etc.) automatic renewal of service agreements without prior notice, undesirable sales promotion tactics, and charge disputes.
In 2002, the Council received a total of over 2,800 complaint cases on internet service (including both broadband and dial-up internet services), and 472 cases in the first 2 months of 2003.
Highlighted in this (March) issue of CHOICE are 2 complaint cases arising from disputes over the renewal of contract.
In one case, the consumer was originally on a special promotional plan which allowed unlimited usage for a binding period of 12 months. Upon expiry of the contract, the operator renewed it, allegedly without the prior consent of the consumer, with a standard plan.
A standard plan allows the user to terminate the contract at any time but usage is not unlimited (the charge is $298 for 100 usage hours, and $2 per additional usage hour). If the consumer is not clearly informed about this new charge scheme, he is liable to using many extra hours at a huge expense.
In another case, the situation was reversed. The consumer was originally on a standard plan and, upon expiry, was upgraded to the special promotional plan with unlimited usage. However, he was not told that he would be contractually bound for 12 months.
Should the consumer decide to break off the plan, he is required to pay a penalty fee.
SMS senders and recipients alike are subject to variety of charges
About 23 million short messages are transmitted over the mobile phones each month in Hong Kong. The number is certain to grow substantially over time.
The Consumer Council has conducted a price survey on short messages service (SMS), and the results are revealing to both senders and recipients.
As a rule, SMS is free to consumers if you are at the recipient end of the message locally. But the survey found quite a few exceptions to the rule :
- Special short messages such as fortune telling, horoscope, financial information, horse racing tips, etc do not come free. Recipients will be charged accordingly.
- A few operators may levy a charge for receiving these short messages when roaming in other countries.
- Some operators provide SMS to email or email to SMS services. In that case, you will be charged for receiving such messages, including email alert. To block junk email/SMS, you can set either a filter or password.
A variety of charges are levied on the senders of SMS, according to the survey. Different operators offer different package which allow a certain number of SMS to be sent.
Under these packages, the average fee per intra-operator (the same network) short message is 19 cents to 43 cents. An additional fee of 40 cents to 50 cents is payable if the message is sent to recipients of other networks within Hong Kong. If you do not join any package, the fee is $1 to $1.5 perSMS.
You can also send international SMS to recipients abroad but the fee is $1.5 to $3. As not every country or network could receive international SMS, check with your local operator beforehand. Some operators may charge you even for unsuccessful SMS, i.e. to a non-used handset number, fixed telephone network, CDMA/TDMA numbers, etc.
If you send SMS when roaming, the charging methods by the local operators may either be a fixed charge (e.g.$3), or in addition to a fixed charge, a roaming charge which depends on the roaming countries and operators involved.
Great variance in ink cost for multi-purpose SOHO business machine
What does it take to join the SOHO (Small Office Home Office) league? A multi-purpose printer combining the functions of inkjet printer, photocopier, scanner and fax machine is enormously popular with SOHO users.
To find out the performance and flexibility of this all-in-1 business machine, the Consumer Council tested 10 models ranging in price from $1,200 to $3,700.
An issue of concern for users is the potential high running cost of ink for the printer.
According to the test, the models were found to vary considerably in their ink cost. On the assumption of a weekly output of 50 black and white and 10 colour documents, the annual ink cost is estimated to range from $936 to $3,328, a difference of 2.5 times.
The more the printing, the higher the cost of ink - and the difference in cost - it will be. So if you are a heavy user, it pays to take into account the accumulated cost of ink of the machine.
To minimise the wastage of ink, the models were tested to examine whether the "low ink" message is issued at the appropriate time. Indeed, 4 models were found to issue the message prematurely.
Of these, 2 warn directly that the ink tanks have become empty and the message keeps appearing when you try to continue printing.
But the test showed that 15% more pages from the black ink and 25% more from the colour ink could be obtained from these 2 samples after the first sign of the "low ink" message. Notwithstanding this shortcoming, these 2 models are among those with the lowest ink running cost but they could have been more economical. However, the Council calls for improved accuracy in the issuing of the message.
Consumers may therefore consider to continue printing even after the 'low ink" message is flashed.
In addition, half of the test samples have independent fax function to enable the users to send or receive fax without being connected to a computer. All but one samples employ flatbed design which enables scanning of 3 dimensional objects and bound documents, providing greater flexibility.
Comprehensive test report on cleaning performance, running cost and safety tips of vacuum cleaners
Almost any vacuum cleaner can clean satisfactorily on smooth hard surfaces. But not so on carpet or hard surfaces with crevices.
This was the finding of a Consumer Council test on 13 models of canister-type vacuum cleaners - within the price range of $298 to $2,680.
According to the test, nearly all samples scored satisfactorily in cleaning on hard surfaces; but only 5 models displayed better cleaning performance on carpet and hard surfaces with crevices.
By and large, vacuum cleaners are electrically safe. Only 2 samples exhibited the problem of larger displacement of the power supply cord during a pull test. Users should, therefore, take care not to extend the cord to the extreme.
Nevertheless, parents should never let baby or toddler play with the appliance when it is in operation during cleaning, or let the child's head get too near to the nozzle as there is a danger of injury.
And, sure enough, vacuum cleaners are noisy, generating a noise level of 73 dB to 84 dB. Users will do well to take break when cleaning for a long time.
Other safety tips include : never use the vacuum cleaner to clean burning or glowing particles such as hot ashes, or to remove water unless the cleaner is designed to do so.
Another factor which consumers need to take into consideration concerns the running cost of the paper bags specifically designed by their manufacturers for dust storage. 11 of the models included in the test use bags while 2 are bagless using new technology.
The average cost of these paper bags runs from $7 to $18 each depending on the brand and model. Bags should be replaced from time to time to keep up hygiene and performance of the cleaner.
Further, 3 samples with HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) filter were found to have much less dust emission than those with ordinary filters. But these replaceable HEPA filters are not inexpensive with cost from $90 to $250 each. Users seriously concerned about indoor air quality may find it of value.
Potential health hazards of body piercing
Body piercing, for beauty reasons, may cause blood-borne diseases such as acute hepatitis B, HIV and other infection.
As there are no specific regulations governing body piercing beauty service in Hong Kong, consumers should be aware of the potential health hazards of body piercing.
They should ensure the piercing studios are clean and all piercing instruments and needles are properly sterilised. All jewelry should be individually packaged and sterilised before use. Staff should wear new gloves and wash their hands before and after each piercing.
For more information on body piercing treatments, consumers can visit the Health Zone website of the Department of Health Central Health Education Unit( http://www.cheu.gov.hk ).
Council Recommends procedures to prevent 'bid-rigging'
The Consumer Council has drawn up a set of recommended procedures for tendering parties to identify and prevent 'bid-rigging'.
Included in this issue of CHOICE is an article highlighting the suggested procedures that have been drawn largely from similar procedures by competition authorities in countries that have general competition law that prohibits bid-rigging.
The intention is to outline a process which tendering parties can follow to identify that practice of bid-rigging, and thereby attempt to limit its occurrence. The Council's document addresses the following main concerns :
- Are there industry characteristics conducive to bid-rigging ?
- What is bid-rigging ?
- The costs of bid-rigging
- How to identify bid-rigging
- The importance of record keeping
- Requiring parties to certify an independent bid
- Prevention
The document can be accessed at the Consumer Council website : http://www.consumer.org.hk .
Chairing the press conference today (March 14) on the publication of CHOICE issue number 317 is Dr. Matthew NG, Chairman of Publicity and Community Relations Committee of the Consumer Council.