S'pore to give medical tourism a shot in the arm
S'pore to give medical tourism a shot in the arm
Lilian Karunungan, Reuters/Singapore
When Indonesian Rismayanti Maulana's husband was diagnosed with liver cancer, she had no hesitation in bringing him to Singapore for an operation despite the city-state's higher medical costs.
Syahrul, a 36-year-old former civil servant, still travels to Singapore for chemotherapy after being hospitalized for three weeks following an operation.
"Many Indonesians go to Singapore for treatment because of its medical sophistication. The doctors are well-trained and, in my husband's case, there's no liver surgeon in Indonesia," said Maulana.
Maulana's words are music to the ears of the Singapore government, which is on a mission to re-establish the island as the region's medical hub as it fights growing competition from lower-cost countries Thailand and Malaysia.
In 2003, Singapore had about 230,000 medical visitors despite the SARS outbreak, a nearly nine percent increase over the 2002 level of 211,600 visitors receiving medical treatment, according to the Singapore Tourism Board.
Now Singapore aims to draw one million foreign patients to its shores by 2012 and a government study showed the target could potentially generate S$2.6 billion in expenditures, adding about one percent to Singapore's gross domestic product.
"Our top markets are Indonesia and Malaysia which account for more than 75 per cent of total. We are also seeing signs of good growth, albeit starting from a small base, from the rest of ASEAN and new markets such as the Middle East," said Dr Chan Tat Hon, assistant chief executive at the Singapore Tourism Board.
The fight for the rich Asian patient covers a range of services from simple health screening to plastic surgery, knee or hip replacement and heart bypass surgery.
The push goes hand-in-hand with a goal to develop the biomedical sciences sector into a second engine of growth for the trade-dependent economy.
But since the 1997 Asian financial crisis, other countries in the region have also been aggressively promoting themselves as destinations for health tourism, with Thailand's Bumrungrad Hospital leading the drive.
In a typical health tourism package, hospital staff arrange airport transfers, book relatives into nearby hotels and even organize local tours. More luxurious packages can include a massage at a spa as well as dinner at an elegant restaurant.
In the face of the growing competition, Singapore's Parkway Holdings Ltd, Southeast Asia's largest-listed private hospital company, has decided to focus on the high-end of the market involving complex cases.
"For Parkway and Singapore, we are looking at a tertiary medical hub rather than those small surgical operations that everybody is attracting," Tan-Hoong Chu Eng, group general manager, told Reuters in a recent interview. Parkway, which claims a 60 percent market share in private healthcare sector in the city-state, lists organ transplants, cancer treatment, and hip replacement as among the popular complex procedures being sought by foreigners.
About 30 percent of the group's patient population is foreign, or patients with overseas addresses.
Parkway, which also has hospitals in Malaysia, Indonesia, India and Brunei, is even thriving on some of the expertise it has passed on to neighboring countries as it gets referrals from the more complex cases its overseas units cannot handle.
"That is why our market share continues to grow for the international patient," Tan said.
Raffles Hospital, a privately owned Singapore hospital which has earned an international reputation in the area of separating conjoined twins, cut its fees for some common surgical procedures in September to make them more competitive against Thailand.
Its fixed-price package of S$15,700 (US$9,235) for a heart bypass operation is 25 percent lower now, and includes multiple- arterial grafts, doctors' fees and eight days stay in hospital.
Bangkok's Bumrungrad advertises for the same treatment at 299,900 baht (US$7,315) but this offers only one arterial graft. The cost is estimated to increase by another 25,000 baht for an additional graft.
In Malaysia's historical city of Malacca, about three hours drive north of Singapore, the 288-bed Mahkota Medical Center is offering health and leisure packages ranging from 980 ringgit (US$257) to 1,620 ringgit for two nights' stay at a nearby hotel and health screening for one to two people.
"The response is very encouraging. One does not have to worry about accommodation and pick-up. That's our strategy," said Vincent Wan, senior business development manager at Mahkota, which launched the packages in August 2003.
Raffles Hospital also offers health screening packages ranging from S$228 (US$134) to S$1,443. Including hotel stay of about three nights, the costs can range from S$390 to S$1,995.
Despite its higher prices, Singapore's greatest challenge is to attract the Asian elite who still prefer to go to the United States for treatment.
A government study said the wealthy island should style itself on the United States' Mayo Clinic, whose enduring brand name for cutting-edge medicine allows it to command a price premium.
Parkway charges S$260,000 for liver transplant that would cover the costs for the recipient and the living donor, whereas an American hospital offers this procedure at half a million Singapore dollars, Parkway's Tan said.
"America has been known for the best, the latest treatment. This is why Singapore is going to do it for the Asia Pacific," she said.