Bottom line, quality care for all behind Chula upgrades

First, it is planning to invest in a new "soft cadaveric" training centre for aspiring surgeons that will be the largest facility of its kind in Asean, capable of training up to 50 students simultaneously.

Second, it has set up a medical inventor/technology centre to develop specialised equipment and devices for both domestic and export markets.

Third, it will further develop tele-medicine and teleconference training facilities for robotic surgery in partnership with its counterparts in Japan and Singapore.

Fourth, it will spend an initial Bt300 million on stem-cell research over the next four years to capitalise on the expertise of the medical school's human resources in this field.

Fifth, a new medical health management centre is being set up to provide training in preventive medicine to personnel from both the public and private sector.

Sixth, Chula will further upgrade its specialist centres for heart surgery, breast cancer, endoscopic surgery, spinal surgery etc into centres of excellence in their field.

In the past few decades, the medical school's hospital has also achieved several "firsts" in Thailand, such as the country's first kidney transplant about 30 years ago and the first test-tube baby about 20 years ago.

To stay competitive in Thailand and the region, Adisorn said a major investment and modernisation programme, costing an estimated Bt11 billion, is under way. The project involves construction of 16 buildings, including a state-of-the-art 29-storey centre for complicated ailments and a wide range of specialist clinics, over the next seven years. These buildings will replace the 15 buildings currently standing on the 136-rai site facing Bangkok's Lumpini park.

To fund this massive scheme (Bt6 billion for construction costs and another Bt5 billion for medical, IT and other systems), the hospital has already secured a budget of Bt4 billion from the state and would put in around Bt2 billion of its own. The rest will be raised from the general public and the private sector.

Adisorn said the hospital would also introduce a more comprehensive two-tier payment system once the new facilities were operational so that it could generate extra income from middle-class and rich patients to subsidise treatment for the poor.

Currently, low-income and poor people account for up to 80 per cent of the 1.2 million patients visiting the hospital's out-patient department each year. This results in big losses - an estimated Bt300 million last year - largely because the hospital cannot charge these patients fully for its expenses.

Adisorn, who is also the dean of Chulalongkorn University's Faculty of Medicine, said he hopes the cross-subsidy policy can be fully enforced so that the hospital's financial health is intact.

In other words, Chula will attempt to compete with leading private hospitals in terms of catering to affluent and middle-class patients so that it can earn more revenue to cover the money-losing units. However, it is not yet able to provide enough VIP and single rooms to patients who can afford to pay due to its ageing facilities. As a result, it plans to turn a significant amount of space in its new facilities over to serve these people.

In addition, it will introduce special tariffs, equivalent to about 70 per cent of prevailing market rates, for holders of medical and health insurance policies so that the hospital earns more money to help subsidise poor patients, who comprise the majority.

Adisorn said poor and low-income patients would continue to receive treatment up to the same medical standards, even though the services might be less convenient. Of the new 29-floor complex, at least five floors will be used for poor and low-income patients, while single and VIP rooms will be available from floors 20 and up.

Adisorn said that all patients, regardless of income, would be treated by the same doctors if they have the same or similar ailments. The only difference is that there would be economy, business and first-class distinctions, as in the airline industry.

 Nophakhun Limsamarnphun

 nop1122@yahoo.com

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