private hospitals share more bill data

in a report on january 04, 2011, the straits times highlighted that patients can now compare costs of treating 40 conditions.

that's because the ministry of health upated its list of hospital bill sizes to include date from private hospitals for 40 common medical conditions.

but because some hospitals do not treat enough of these patients, comparisons cannot be made across all 70 conditions between private and public hospitals at the present moment.

according to our health minister, mr khaw boon wan, moh publishes data for a particular hospital only if it treated more than 30 patients with that medical condition in a year, leaving about 40 medical conditions with sufficient patients in private hospitals to draw comparisons.

my comments:

perhaps what is not surprising is that treatments in private hospitals come in costlier than in public hospitals with one exception being mount alvernia hospital charging the least to treat diabetic eye disease.

for haemorrhoid surgery, the average lenght of stay ranges from just 1.3 days to the longest at 3.3 days at singapore general hospital and cost from the lowest at $1,586 (tan tock seng hospital) to a whopping $6,880 (mount elizabeth hospital) for 50th percentile bill size.

when interviewed by the straits times, ms wendy tan, 30, who is 7 months pregnant, said pricing remains a secondary consideration:

"for surgery, i think doctors are the most important thing. only if it's a very minor procedure would price become a factor."

for those who are uninsured or even covered with a group h&s benefit plan, surely pricing remains key to choice of treatment especially involving surgery because of dollar-capped limits imposed on benefits.

and that's why the consumer should seriously consider an individual comprehensive h&s plan that come with 'as-charged' benefits, without limiting the life insured to his/her choice of hospital/specialist/surgeon like what ms wenty tan has opined:

"that for me and as far as surgery is concerned, the doctors are the most important thing."