Singapore Press Holding's "MyPaper", 12 Sep 2006 Translated article :  Right Hospital and Right Doctor Reported by Ms Li Min Wen, Journalist for MyPaper on “Business Wealth” column   Health is wealth. We all hope that we will never fall sick. But one day, if we do fall sick, healthcare cost is going to be an important concern for us. Some people feel that they must always consult a specialist or go to a private hospital for the best treatment. But this is not always true. Some other patients would keep hopping to different doctors. This practice may not only result in delay diagnosis and treatment, but it would also cost them a lot of money. Instead of searching for a doctor blindly, one should do his research properly and be a smart patient. How to find the most cost-effective treatments; find the best doctor, the best medical treatment and the best hospital in Singapore? Is expensive fees means better service? “Are all hospitals fees same?” Our e-mail interview with Health services and financing consultant, Ms Virginia Goh, informed us that generally, the private hospital fees are more expensive than the public hospital, but this is not entirely true. For example, from Ministry of Health’s (MOH) website, a normal delivery at Kandang Kerbau (KK) Hospital (A class ward), cost an average of $3,061 for the 50th percentile bill, but a similar delivery in East Shore hospital cost lesser, at $2,936 (for the period 1 May 2005 to 30 Apr 2006). Does it then mean the private hospital is better? Ms Goh explained the volume of patients a particular hospital manages is also an important criterion to judge. A hospital which treats more patients generally has more experience. Let’s go back to the KK Hospital and East Shore Hospital example and review again. KK Hospital delivers 5,733 cases during that period compared to 1,058 from East Shore Hospital. That is about five times more. If you compare the number of doctors in that specialty, KK Hospital has 40 compared to 6 from East Shore Hospital. In addition, East Shore Hospital does not have IVF (In-Vitro Fertilization) facility compared to KK Hospital. This shows KK Hospital is better. However, East Shore Hospital is still popular for residents staying in the eastern part of Singapore due to its location. Hence, if you go to the MOH website to compare the hospital fees and volume of patients for that particular condition, then you go to the respective hospital’s website to compare the number of doctors and its medical services available, you would be able to make an informed choice on which is the right hospital to seek treatment. Don’t rush see a specialist If you fall sick, don’t rush out and consult a specialist immediately, as the medical fee is generally higher. Ms Goh gave an example of a teenager, Andrew, who has a severe acne problem. He consulted a doctor in a polyclinic who prescribed him antibiotics for his acne. He was told that he needed to take the antibiotics for a year to be effective. Andrew took the medicine for two weeks but did not see any improvement. So he went to consult a skin specialist who also gave him the same antibiotics. After a few months of daily antibiotics treatment, his acne condition improved. If Andrew had listened to the polyclinic doctor’s advice, he would have saved a lot of time and money from consulting the skin specialist. “One should go to the polyclinic doctor to seek treatment first, and only when the polyclinic doctor is unsuccessful in treating your condition, then he would refer you to see a specialist in a government hospital. The polyclinic doctor acts as a gatekeeper to the subsidized specialist clinics in the government hospitals” “However, for serious conditions like heart diseases or severe genetic disorders, you should inform the polyclinic doctor if your disease is severe and they would refer you to see a specialist in a subsidized clinic, if indicated. This will enable you to enjoy the government subsidy” Picking a hospital based you your illness Do you choose a hospital solely based on the hospital fees alone? Ms Goh explained that in severe conditions like heart disease, if you need a heart bypass, you should go to National Heart Centre in Singapore General Hospital or National University Hospital, as these are the only two government hospitals which provide this service. However, for less complicated medical procedures like appendix operation, Alexandra Hospital is the cheapest among all the six public hospitals in Singapore. According to MOH’s website on fees comparison, the average cost of appendix operation is $522 for Alexendra Hospital, $578 for National University Hopsital and $635 for Singapore General Hospital. She advised the readers that if their medical illness is prolonged and needs a longer period of hospital stay, they should choose the subsidized wards in the government hospital. When they are admitted to the hospital, they should choose the subsidized B2 or C class ward, because it’s easier to upgrade to the more expensive wards later. However, downgrading to the cheaper wards from the more expensive wards is generally more difficult. Hence, if you are not careful and choose the more expensive wards of B1 or A class initially, you may end up paying a lot of money for your medical treatment.     A Book on Medical Services in Singapore Virginia Goh is a health financing and services consultant. Recently, she teamed up with Dr Victor Teoh, a medical doctor and Raymond Goh, a lawyer, to publish a book titled “Picking the Right Hospital, Right Doctor in Singapore”. The book provides relevant information on the medical services in Singapore. The book is available in all the major bookstores in Singapore.