Hospital wars heat up as Singapore hikes healthcare spending

Private players will have to splurge on robotics too.

Private hospitals in Singapore will be up against stiffer competition after the government revealed that healthcare spending will rise to a staggering $11b in 2016, according to a report by OCBC.

The 19% year-on-year jump in spending will be mainly directed towards supporting public healthcare institutions and providing premium subsidies for MediShield life.

Policymakers will also splurge on the construction of hospitals such as the the Sengkang General Hospital, National Centre for Infectious Diseases, National Cancer Centre and the Outram Community Hospital.

As the government pushes for greater productivity within the healthcare sector with the increased use of robotics technology, OCBC noted that private players will also have to think up new ways to boost their own operations.

“As the support towards automation initiatives continue to scale up, this leaves room for further enhancements on hospitals’ efficiency. Facing this industry level transformation, we expect private hospitals to adopt new technology and implement productivity initiatives as well,” OCBC noted.

“We had previously mentioned that simply increasing bed base over time is not a sustainable model for any healthcare landscape, and as such, improving efficiency is one of the key objectives for hospitals,” the report added.