Bangkok: Bumrungrad eyes 3 million foreign patients next year

[webfact]

Bumrungrad eyes 3 million foreign patients next year
Asina Pornwasin
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Bumrungrad International Hospital aims to increase revenue by more than 10 per cent next year and hopes to service 3 million foreign patients, thanks to plans to open additional referral offices overseas and increase its capability in a number of areas.

"We will have more than 1.1 million local and overseas patients visiting the hospital this year, and we expect to receive around 3 million overseas patients next year," said Num Tanthuwanit, chief executive officer and medical director.

The hospital will open more referral offices in many countries, including in Myanmar, and will establish its first offices in Cambodia and Indonesia.

"In the past five years, we have been growing [revenue] at an annual average rate of 10 per cent. Next year, we aim to grow by more than 10 per cent. We are maintaining our [core] markets [central and northern Asia, Australia, the United States and the Middle East], while gearing up to cover emerging markets offering opportunities, especially in our region [Myanmar, Cambodia and Indonesia]," said Num.

The CEO said the hospital would increase service capability at its head campus through investment in both technology and expanded medical facilities. It will enhance its nine centres of excellence and increase the capacity of its intensive care units and neonatal ICUs by next year.

"By 2015, we will have another 10 ICU beds and 12 NICU beds. We will increase the capability of our nine centres of excellence, such as our liver centres and eye centres. We are also focusing on increasing our in-patient department's service capability, and expect to see in-patient revenue surpass that of the outpatient department; the current ratio is 50:50," he said.

Under the 'hub and spoke model', the hospital will receive patients from its 16 referral offices overseas to its head campus.

"Next year, we will add another referral office in Myanmar to our three existing offices there," said Num.

Apart from its referral offices, Bumrungrad has partnerships with 10 hospitals nationwide, with which it shares and exchanges knowledge through telemedicine and teleconferencing, said the chief executive.

"We position ourselves as the hospital leader in cutting-edge technology. We are always investing in [new] medical-technology systems," he added.

In the latest example of this, the hospital has joined hands with IBM Thailand to implement IBM Watson for Oncology in the Kingdom.

Bumrungrad is one of four leading hospitals worldwide and the first outside North America to implement IBM Watson for Oncology.

Num said the beauty of IBM Watson cognitive computing was that it worked as an assistant to doctors.

It provides doctors with 'big data' for oncology in terms of cases and knowledge from around the world, while learning from the physicians at the same time. It enables doctors to shorten the time spent on each cancer case, while offering key data to inform their decision-making, he said.

The Watson cognitive-computing systems learn and interact naturally with people to extend what either humans or machines can do on their own, said Parnsiree Amatayakul, managing director of IBM Thailand.

They help experts make better decisions by penetrating the complexity of big data, she added.

"Watson is a cognitive technology that processes information more like a human than a computer by understanding naturally. We are proud that Bumrungrad International Hospital is the first hospital outside North America to implement the latest innovative technology - IBM Watson," said the MD.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/business/Bumrungrad-eyes-3-million-foreign-patients-next-ye-30246441.html


-- The Nation 2014-10-29

[terryp]

has someone from the TAT started work for the hospital,,,,,, 3 MILLION ...do they have any idea how big a jump that is from the so called 1.1 million....totally ridicules

over 8000 patients a day every day

[noitom]

What are they smoking over there at Bumrungrad to forecast these numbers? But then, there is no accountability in Thailand. It's for sure they have hundreds of Thai plastic surgeons standing by with the knife at the ready and they will provide death free anesthetics.

[MJP]

has someone from the TAT started work for the hospital,,,,,, 3 MILLION ...do they have any idea how big a jump that is from the so called 1.1 million....totally ridicules

over 8000 patients a day every day

Argh! You beat me to it!

[Jim walker]

Its a very well-known Thai calculation figure you throw the calculator on the ground face down and stamp on it three time its as simple as that and always very accurate in fact good enough to publish 8000 patients a day is slightly on the lower side hope they check the qualifications of the extra needed surgeons and the anaesthetist especially if the soldiers are thinking of cutting the amount of taxis on the roads, or you might get collected at airport with your surgeon.

[Bluespunk]

Might want to check everyone's licences are in order then.......

[NongKhaiKid]

has someone from the TAT started work for the hospital,,,,,, 3 MILLION ...do they have any idea how big a jump that is from the so called 1.1 million....totally ridicules

over 8000 patients a day every day

What's next, a TAT campaign to encourage foreigners to get ill and come here for treatment ?

[namdocmai]

They are hoping to get 3 million! patients? I hope the doctors don't drink as much as this guy with the calculator. Also i hope they don't see me as their new prey and i hope to stay healthy.

[siampolee]

Bumrungrad eyes 3 million foreign patients next year

Bumrungrad eyes 3 million foreign patients next year.some wonderful side affects from the anesthetics used it would seem

[ratcatcher]

Bumrungrad Hospital, strategically located in one of the most congested areas of Bangkok. Gridlock can be cured with the right treatment.

https://www.bumrungrad.com/doctors/Num-Tanthuwanit

[HerbalEd]

has someone from the TAT started work for the hospital,,,,,, 3 MILLION ...do they have any idea how big a jump that is from the so called 1.1 million....totally ridicules

over 8000 patients a day every day

Of course they do. They said they expect a 10% increase.

[WhizBang]

I went to Bumrungrad once. I will never go back to that place again.

[skildpadden]

Wow they surely have some good drugs at Bumrungrad - you must sky high to come up with at number of 3 million foreign patients in 2015.

Of course some will out-patients but if the patient is flying here for treatment it will likely be an in-patient and do they have enough rooms and beds (or will they do as the public hospitals and have patients in the hallways).

[Sydebolle]

I had my entire family there for 20+ years on dental and other medical prevention; my youngest child daughter was born there. Ten years ago I stopped going there once I found out, that they attract all those Middle Eastern medical clients. Latter were shouting around, sleeping on sofas, eating smelly stuff, belching and burping around.
Nobody told these eremite from far-away sandy lands how to behave in a public place, ahem hospital and hence we moved onwards.
Maybe it is that food stench which blurred their ability to work with figures as each and every (Thai and Foreign) friend I have all moved away from the concrete tent on Sukhumvit.
And there is no intention to turn back, despite nothing being wrong with the medical treatment (the billing excluded though) ;-)

[Kaoboi Bebobp]

And if you divide 8,200 patients a day by 24 hours, you get 342 an hour. Like another poster, I went there once. It will be my last.

[Mot Dang]

I spent 2 days in Bunrungrad in March this year with severe acute bronchitis. The doctors and nursing staff were absolutely brilliant. I can't praise them more.

It was so obvious to me that patients from neighboring countries (eg Pakistan and Bangladesh especially) were flying in to get treatment there. I felt that these peoples were in the majority, not falang or Burmese or Cambodians.

[tartempion]

Spent 10 days at Bumrungrad in May 2000.

Although 2 cardiologists studied in my home town university in Leuven with prof De Werf they seemingly were not ready for stent implants. Their money maker was heart artery bypass.

I was diagnosed needing 3x bypass and had 2 stents implants in Leuven one week after my insurance company had me transferred to Leuven.

The ICU Block I stayed at was full of bypass patients, mainly ethnic Chinese and a farang or two. I understand they perform stent implants for some years now.

Not planning to spend some more days there, but otherwise 5 star property, the nurses were a lot more client friendly than in Leuven....

[klauskunkel]

This reporting is exactly what happens when the reporter has no common sense, or critical thinking but is only regurgitating what was fed to him/her. Next time, The Nation, just send a tape recorder, it's less expensive than a robot.

[seajae]

after the 24 year old woman dies from a bum operation done by an unqualified doctor I doubt that they will see people lining up for ops here, far too much corruption and bullsh*t qualifications floating around, they simply will not trust any thai doctors as being qualified and I cant blame them, the pharmacy workers prescribe better medication and what is actually needed than the drop kick doctors. Six weeks of a chest infection with 3 different doctors all saying it was nothing and giving bullsh*t pills with no result and still getting worse, the pharmacist asked me what was wrong and gave me different medication, started to clear up within a couple of days, the doctors are quacks and the rest of the world will realize this

[Fred Flinstone]

I refuse to believe Thai propaganda its pointless and silly and not helpful to the Thais themselves .

Like a child who lies and imagines things and tries to create a false world to live in - sometimes its kinder to say ""Its not true"

There is no Santa Claus -

This hospital is being more than hopeful if indeed it has ever really said this-

The arse is falling out of this place *(Thailand ) Tourism isn't likely to increase in the short term nor massive increases -

The sheer scale makes the story look more than silly

[wirat69]

Hmmm simple....1.1m + 10% = 1.3m......... like many articles seems some have missed the point!!

[pkspeaker]

laugh all you want, their stock price is up 3 fold in the last 3 years and has quadrupled in 5 years + dividends.. so apparently they are receiveing many high paying patients despite Sydbolle's anti-arab boycott.

also you cannot compare that dump where the 24 year old bitish woman died to Bumangrad medical center, BH is expensive (on thai standards-that is) but their medical treatment is excellent.. very good experience there myself when i was hospitilized.. but i have also had good experiences with other thai hospitals

has someone from the TAT started work for the hospital,,,,,, 3 MILLION ...do they have any idea how big a jump that is from the so called 1.1 million....totally ridicules

over 8000 patients a day every day

Argh! You beat me to it!

[Thai at Heart]

laugh all you want, their stock price is up 3 fold in the last 3 years and has quadrupled in 5 years + dividends.. so apparently they are receiveing many high paying patients despite Sydbolle's anti-arab boycott.

also you cannot compare that dump where the 24 year old bitish woman died to Bumangrad medical center, BH is expensive (on thai standards-that is) but their medical treatment is excellent.. very good experience there myself when i was hospitilized.. but i have also had good experiences with other thai hospitals

has someone from the TAT started work for the hospital,,,,,, 3 MILLION ...do they have any idea how big a jump that is from the so called 1.1 million....totally ridicules

over 8000 patients a day every day

Argh! You beat me to it!

How would you as a layman know if the treatment is excellent?

[siam2007]

has someone from the TAT started work for the hospital,,,,,, 3 MILLION ...do they have any idea how big a jump that is from the so called 1.1 million....totally ridicules

over 8000 patients a day every day

a lot of nonsense BlaBlaBla from people who have no clue or probably have never ever been at Bumrungrad themselves.

They have Hundreds of Doctors working there, and if all of them have a full schedule, the 8.000 is probably rather a conservative figure.

They saved my life in 2006 when I had an emergency (extrem rare sort of blood-clot) and all Doctors I encountered that time were the "Creme de la Creme" of the country.

there are good and not so good doctors there, but just check their website and choose by yourself. I always try to find a Doc who has studied overseas or at least been there for a fellowship or something.

Today I was there again and the young Orthopaedist was brilliant, as was their technical equipment to do my MRI scan a few days earlier.

Yes there are plenty of Arabs and not all of them have a pleasant behaviour - but this goes for several farang as well. Many Burmese patients now there too, easily to detect as most males wear the Longyi.

Apart of that, I go to a hospital to get some proper treatment, and not to whine about what other patients or customers are doing or how they behave.

Sadly Bumrungrad indeed is very very expensive and, considering their sucess, this won't get any better in the future. This would be the only reason why I would stop using them, if I can not afford it....

[JAG]

laugh all you want, their stock price is up 3 fold in the last 3 years and has quadrupled in 5 years + dividends.. so apparently they are receiveing many high paying patients despite Sydbolle's anti-arab boycott.

also you cannot compare that dump where the 24 year old bitish woman died to Bumangrad medical center, BH is expensive (on thai standards-that is) but their medical treatment is excellent.. very good experience there myself when i was hospitilized.. but i have also had good experiences with other thai hospitals

has someone from the TAT started work for the hospital,,,,,, 3 MILLION ...do they have any idea how big a jump that is from the so called 1.1 million....totally ridicules

over 8000 patients a day every day

Argh! You beat me to it!

How would you as a layman know if the treatment is excellent?

Well, he is still alive!

[englishoak]

"We will have more than 1.1 million local and overseas patients visiting the hospital this year, and we expect to receive around 3 million overseas patients next year,"

Thats about 175% increase not 10...

[ROB58]

Quote in the Nation is wrong - they corrected it themselves here: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/business/Bumrungrad-aims-to-grow-more-than-10-30246441.html

There the CEO says: "We will have more than 1.1 million local and overseas patients visiting the hospital this year, and we expect to receive around half a million from total 3 million overseas patients expected to visit hospitals in Thailand next year,"...

Get the difference?