Tap private players to offer more choices to patients: Thomson Medical chairman

SINGAPORE — As Singapore’s public healthcare system re-organises to tackle challenges such as the ageing population, it could work more closely with private sector providers to make better use of resources and offer more options to Singaporeans, Thomson Medical’s executive chairman Roy Quek said.

He suggested, for example, that government subsidies may extend to tertiary care for means-tested patients to see a private specialist or stay in a private hospital, with the patients topping up the remainder of the cost. After all, the Government is already tapping the private sector for primary care, by subsidising patients’ visits to participating private general practitioners and dentists under the Community Health Assist Scheme, he said.

Last week, the Ministry of Health (MOH) announced that the six regional health clusters would be re-organised into three, each to serve about 1.1 to 1.5 million residents. The three clusters — National University Health System, National Healthcare Group and Singapore Health Services — will each run several polyclinics and offer a fuller range of capabilities and facilities. The consolidation is expected to be completed by early 2018.

Mr Quek, in an interview with TODAY ahead of Thomson Medical’s launch of a one-stop wellness and lifestyle clinic at Pacific Plaza on Wednesday (Jan 25), asked: “If the clusters are now able to reap synergies of economies of scale, are they able to offer more options, more choices?”

As the government enhances quality, affordability and accessibility as part of its Healthcare 2020 Masterplan, “one thing that’s not quite there is the element of choice”, he pointed out. “If I choose as a patient to see my doctor who’s not in the public cluster, am I worse off? Would I then not be able to enjoy the subsidies that would accrue to me if I go to the public sector?”

He explained: “If I am already means-tested, ideally the system should be neutral to where I go if I receive the care, because the cost is the same to the system. And better still, I don’t add to the queue, the waiting times at the public sector facilities.”

For private players, plugging into the national system in this way to help deliver healthcare to the public is really “more sustainable in the long term”, he said.

Mr Quek, who became executive chairman of Thomson Medical in November 2015, used to be MOH’s deputy secretary of health policy.

Asked if patients would have to top up hefty amounts for stays in pricier private hospitals, and if health insurance claims would spike, he said that the private sector may adjust its business model and introduce some wards that are more basic. With the public sector now providing 80 per cent of hospitalisation care, there would not be a “huge outflow” to the private sector, he said.

Health insurers will adjust their products but ultimately, “the cost to the system should not be higher”.

“More importantly, hopefully over time, patients make the choice not (based on) waiting times, but (based on) the quality of care, and whether the healthcare service provider allows for a ‘cradle-to-grave’ kind of service to you,” he added.

Thomson Medical, controlled by billionaire Peter Lim, has in recent months announced the development of a general hospital in Johor Baru, Malaysia. The hospital is to be part of an integrated healthcare hub that will also incorporate a school to train doctors and nurses.

Wednesday’s launch of the Thomson Wellth wellness clinic is part of Thomson Medical’s expansion of services. The clinic offers health screening, aesthetics, nutrition and pain management, among other services. The medical group also announced a three-year partnership with Netball Singapore to offer national netballers the clinic’s services.

Plans are afoot as well for Thomson Medical to offer sports medicine, cardiology, oncology beyond women’s cancers and mental health, and the group is also seeking an alternative site so that capacity at Thomson Medical Centre on Thomson Road can be ramped up.