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Bumrungrad, the country's second largest private hospital by market value, plans to become a sustainable healthcare service provider over the next decade.

This new target follows the company's achievement in 2008 of an existing goal - planned 10 years ago - to be the region's best nursery healthcare provider.

The company's director, Dr Sinn Anuras, said being sustainable means the establishment of three business units: healthcare services, teaching and research and development.

"Already we have a healthcare unit. Typically, if we have a teaching unit, the research unit will follow easily," said Sinn.

In planning for the company's next 10-year business milestone, Sinn expected it would establish the teaching unit within the next five years. "Meanwhile, the company must work on researching diseases, especially [those prevalent] in the region," he said.

Bumrungrad hospital was a victim of the post-financial crisis of 1997 and, like other firms, faced financial problems. Sinn was a key figure in turning it around - beginning work 10 years ago on the nursery, with 18 full-time doctors in a US style programme, and the aim of being the best nursery in the region.

Today Bumrungrad claims a world-class reputation with 205 full-time doctors, 65 per cent of whom are from the US. Healthcare services have been expanded to capture new international markets such as the Middle East and Asia.

Medical tourism has become a significant market for hospitals in the region. In the past six years, Bumrungrad's international patient volume has doubled and its Middle East patient volume grown from 5,000 to 90,000.

Sinn said the company's turning point after the economic crisis was its accreditation with the Joint Commission International in 2002, an acknowledgment of the standard of its patient treatment.

Now it has more than 1,000 doctors and 800 nurses, treating 420,000 international patients from 200 countries. International patients represent 50 per cent of its total patient revenue.

Bumrungrad Hospital posted Bt1.61 billion of net profit on Bt9.41 billion of revenue in 2007. For the first half of 2008, the company posted Bt594.25 billion in net profit and Bt4.42 billion in revenue.

"The key to the hospital's success can be attributed to three groups - doctors, nurses and staff," said Sinn, who added that its Bangkok location was also crucial.

He said many hospitals in other countries were better off than Bumrungrad in terms of equipment, but they lack its human resources and flexibility.

Achievements include JCI Disease-Specific accreditation for heart and stroke programmes in 2006, ISO15189 Medical Laboratory Certification in 2007, as well as ISO9001 in 2000 and ISO14001 in 2001.

With 544 beds in Bangkok, Bumrungrad can serve five intensive care and three neonatal units, with 19 operating theatres and 30 speciality centres. It also uses the 'Pharmacy Robot', the first fully automated medicine management system in Asia, for inpatients.

Recently, Bumrungrad received the Tourism Authority of Thailand award for best tourism hospital, while the weekly business magazine AsiaWeek ranked it among the top 10 best medical-tourism hotspots.

In 2006, the hospital joined hands with Microsoft to develop its software program for hospital efficiency.

Curtis Schroeder, group CEO of Bumrungrad International, said the hospital's key to success was the ease of patient access to services.

"In Thailand, patients just come in and get everything done quickly, no waiting, like one-stop shopping," he said.

Schroeder added that Thailand's treatment prices were three times lower than those in Hong Kong and two times lower than in Singapore.