In Business and in Health

Singapore healthcare at its best.

Deloitte Southeast Asia

Diseases and Cure for Asia’s Healthcare Industry - Despite the global downturn, the demand for more and better health care is rising sharply across Southeast Asia for the past decade, along with the region’s rapidly growing economies.

Challenges in Asia’s Healthcare Industry today - Adding to the growing need of the healthcare industry, the Economist Intelligence Unit reported the spread of non-communicable diseases as the leading cause of death in Asia, which is partly a result of progress against infectious diseases. Healthcare systems, in return, must find a way to deal with these two matters in terms of disease management and patient education. Along with that is the increasing percentage of citizens over 65 years old that will require major preparations to better address the needs of the senior population.

The impact of demographical and healthcare reform - The healthcare industry carries a weight of difficulties that include upgrading the facilities to keep up with the consumer demands, acquiring and maintaining the best medical staff, and other issues like change in disease profiles, lifestyle and ageing population.

These challenges paved way for new marketing opportunities in the healthcare industry. Pharmaceutical and manufacturing companies can now explore more on non-communicable, chronic and lifestyle diseases treatment by importing research and readily available technologies from the developed nations of the west, and applying efficient and low-cost manufacturing practices in Asia. The ageing and more affluent population will also mean bigger market for degenerative disease treatments such as artificial joint replacements. One can also expect majority of the Asian nations to be actively looking into upgrading their current health care facilities to meet the population’s expectations.

The role of the healthcare industry professionals - Southeast Asia is an increasingly significant market in the healthcare sector. Providers should constantly evaluate what needs to be done to achieve operational effectiveness and improved care.

Universities and hospitals should continuously coordinate to better plan and meet the industry’s demand for supply of qualified professionals. Healthcare providers should also take pre-emptive measures to plan for the future. Deloitte’s Five Pillars of Performance Improvement is one example: providing key strategies that can help promote a sustainable long-term growth. A higher rate of convergence and integration across the life sciences and health care value chain is needed. This transformation will take place as governments execute strategies and reforms in areas including health care policies and regulations, investments in medical facilities and training, incentives for biotech research, and insurance and tax incentives.

With the advancements in technology and communication, people have become more demanding when considering health care options. Different governments in the region have implemented different healthcare approaches in delivering health care services. In alignment with global trends, Southeast Asia is seeing a shift from sickness care to health care, where the priority is placed on prevention and wellness.

Click here to view photo of Mr. Janson Yap, Regional Leader in Life Sciences and Healthcare, Deloitte Southeast Asia

Neuglow Dental by Healthway Medical Group

Neuglow Dental is a multi-disciplinary dental team specializing in dental care wherein all patients are treated like family with the warm and caring environment is offering. However, patients’ health and safety is still the top priority as the team offers the latest in specialized technology.

Patients need not be afraid at Neuglow Dental clinic. Dr. Poon Kee Hwang trained her staff with the principle, “Treat all patients as you yourself would like to be treated”. According to her, this simple statement is effective as the many things that people fear – the dreaded drill, the ‘smell’ of the place, the space of the clinic – suddenly become easy to understand and manage. Dr. Poon said: “We use state of the art digital X ray machines to minimize radiation exposure. All instruments are autoclave and sterilized to MOH standards.”

“Patients are engaged actively in the treatment planning process from the onset. By understanding their concerns, identifying problems through intra-oral photography and active discussion; together we arive at a treatment plan that best suits the patient,” she adds.

Eliminating dental phobia is not a one step process. It is a journey and our team works together to walk the patient through it step by step.

Patients are now seeking treatment that challenges Dr. Poon’s dental team to provide fast results, flexibility, and invisibility of their braces. Their response to these challenges is to offer a variety of solutions such as Friction-free braces, Invisalign, Incognito Lingual Braces and porcelain veneers.

Dr. Poon is the first Orthodontist in Singapore to be certified in the Incognito Braces System. From her experience, she has completed many cases ranging from non-extraction cases, extraction cases and cases with facial skeletal discrepancies that require concurrent corrective jaw surgeries.

“Of all the lingual braces system, the Incognito Braces System is the most high tech, advanced and accurate of them all,” she said.

Incognito is not just a type of braces. According to Dr. Poon, it is a system which follows a detailed planning phase, customization-fabrication phase with the final result in mind.

Dr. Poon said: “The Incognito Lingual braces are designed with a modular concept. Each bracket structure is created by the computer and allows individual components of the braces to be positioned independently of one another.”

“This makes the system unique and allows absolute customization to the needs of each patient,” she adds.

Patients who have used the Incognito Lingual braces find that they adapt rapidly to speech with maximum comfort. This is due to the remarkably flat design of the gold alloy brackets which can be cast and polished with supreme accuracy and is anti-allergic.

Click here to view photo of Dr Poon Kee Hwang, Specialist Orthodontist, Neuglow Dental

Asia HealthPartners

Escalating healthcare costs are a major concern both in the healthcare industry and the local community. While healthcare costs in Singapore are not entirely borne by the government, insurance companies and all healthcare personnel are fulfilling their part in keeping the costs low and affordable.

Asia Healthpartners, a modern multi-disciplinary medical centre that combines a professional team of medical expertise help the community afford quality medical care.

Dr Chong Yeang Chern, Wellness Physician and Director of Wellness Centre, Asia Healthpartners, elaborates: “In the era of affluent society, ageing population and declining resident fertility rate, emphasis on various strategies to prevent escalating healthcare costs is important”.

Dr Chong believes that all healthcare personnel have a role to play in order to control the healthcare costs while ensuring good quality of care to patients.

“I see myself playing an important role in public education, inculcating importance of healthy lifestyle for prevention of chronic medical diseases and reinforcing need for preventive medicine”, she adds.

Health screening is a vital area of healthcare that should not be overlooked since many diseases cannot be detected immediately. This poses a big challenge to the healthcare industry since some of the local population, especially the men and the older generation, are not receptive to this idea.

Dr Chong said: “We need to better understand the health seeking behavior and the concerns of this group”.
The current trend leans on a more balanced relationship wherein a shared decision making is involved. In the modern society, patients make their own choices. They view this as their right to be well-informed about their conditions, as well as the benefits and risks of various treatment options.

Listening to patients’ feedback will also provide insight to service standard so that overall experience at the doctor’s office can be improved.

“As doctors, we should help patients navigate the information and guide them towards the correct direction. We should also keep an open mind towards their ideas, expectations and concerns”, says Dr Chong.

Moreover the future of healthcare is closely knitted with IT infrastructure.

Asia Healthpartners’ mission is to enrich the quality of patients’ lives through preventive, diagnostic, therapeutic and aesthetic medical services.

“Our Wellness Centre provides evidence based personalized health screening services. Specialised tests include food and inhalant allergy tests, hair mineral analysis and hormone analysis. We also offer corporate health screening packages at your desired location at competitive rates,” said Dr Chong.

Click here to view photo of Dr Chong Yeang Chern, Director of AHP Wellness Centre