Office visit guidance
Welcome to our website!
We are an over-a-century-old private-based Eye Hospital in the center of main tourist sites of Hakodate. Reception is open 8:30 - 16:30 on weekdays and 8:30-12:00 on Saturdays.
Seeking medical care in a foreign land must be totally frightening. But at the same time, it should be tough to keep traveling with so much discomfort. If you are facing trouble with your eye, visit us and let us help you get through it.
Classical problems
Contact lens related problems are common among travelers. Minor troubles can be handled without medication but serious troubles such as corneal infection require anti-bacterial agents.
Stye is also common and can be irritating. Typically, small styes are treated with anti-inflammatory eye-drops first. If it is large or about to erupt with less inflammation, incision can become a better choice. Severely inflamed styes should be ceased with medication before incision to suppress bleeding and pain.
For rare but serious conditions such as retinal tear, you may need laser treatment ASAP. Flashes in the peripheral visual field followed by sudden increase in floaters could be a worrisome sign of retinal issues. For detailed examination of retina, pharmacological pupil dilation is necessary. This would blur your vision temporarily (several hours). In case of retinal detachment, treatment plan depends on the size and location of detachment. Small detachment could be handled with laser treatment only, but large detachment requires surgery under hospitalization.
In Japan, fees of medical care are centrally fixed, i.e., it is not us that set the price, and some of the treatment options are priced quite high. For example, laser treatment costs you up to 160,000 yen. If cost matters, please check with the staff in advance.
Office visit
A standard flow of a first-time visit is described below.
1. Check-in
Go through the main entrance. Being an old-fashioned facility, please take off your shoes and give it to a clerk at the “shoe cloak” that you will find on your left-hand side. The clerk will give you a shoe-token in change. Keep the token until you leave the hospital.
Next step is check-in. Proceed to the reception counter right in front of the entrance and tell the purpose of your visit to a clerk. For first-time visitors, please fill in a medical interview form and hand in at the counter. Downloading and filling in the medical interview form beforehand may greatly help you through this step. If you possess valid healthcare insurance of Japan, you will be asked to show your insurance card. Find a seat and please wait for your name to be called.
Please note that without healthcare insurance coverage, you will be fully billed for the costs. Unfortunately, we do not accept credit cards or other currencies at the moment.
2. Medical interview and examination
Usually, a nurse will ask you more detailed questions prior to examination. When your turn comes, a nurse will guide you to the examination booth and there a doctor will examine you. If additional tests such as visual acuity test or mydriasis are needed and as long as you wish to take them, proceed to the next step. Some of the tests take place on the second floor. After the tests, the doctor will examine you again, explain the findings, and propose plans to you.
Then your next step will be check-out. Proceed to the waiting area beside the reception, take a seat and please wait until your name is called.
3. Payment and Prescription
Eye drops, ointment, or pills will be prescribed if necessary. In Japan, prescription drugs will typically be handed over in a pharmacy outside the hospital, but this process should be too complicated for travelers. Fortunately, we are equipped with a pharmacy inside the building thus you can pick up your drugs with less stress. Price of prescription drugs is uniform anywhere, so there is no need for concerns.
Prescription will be processed after payment. Pharmacy is located next to the check-out counter so please wait for another moment before a pharmacist hand you the drugs. Don’t leave yet!
The bill of the day will include costs for prescribed drugs.
If there is no prescription involved, you may leave the hospital right after payment is finished.
Again, we apologize for the inconvenience due to credit card unacceptance.
4. Ready to leave
Please be sure that you have everything with you, and give the shoes-token at the shoe-cloak and retrieve your shoes. Then you are ready to go.
Follow-up visits
Follow-up visitors can just drop by anytime without reservation whenever the reception is open. Please drop your patient ID card in the white box that you will find on the reception counter. For your information, online reservation is partly available (https://airrsv.net/Hakodate-Eguchi-Ganka/calendar).
On follow-up visits, you may be guided to take some tests on the second floor prior to examination.
