Waning medical tourism forces rethink in Singapore

 25-Jul-17, Nikkei Asian Review

The Mount Elizabeth Novena hospital is a sprawling, modern complex packed with specialist clinics - a high-class mega-mall for medicine that serves the local market and well-heeled visitors from around Southeast Asia.

Image: Nikkei Asian Review

"If they are coming because they have got a complex medical problem, often they are here because there is a word-of-mouth recommendation for a doctor in Singapore that they have heard can deal with it," said interventional cardiologist Dr. Rohit Khurana.

Singapore has long traded on its reputation for high-quality healthcare in a region where specialist services are limited and hospitals are sorely overstretched. But that model is looking increasingly shaky, as competition from emerging medical tourism destinations that can compete with the city-state on price, and as local healthcare systems begin to improve around Southeast Asia.

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