By Julia Ng, Channel NewsAsia Posted: 08 February 2008 1755 hrs
SINGAPORE: Inflation and healthcare costs may be on the rise but the cost of Lasik surgeries has bucked the trend.
Eye doctors expect rates to fall further when the private sector joins the public sector in its current practice of publishing the size of their medical bills.
Singapore has one of the highest rates of myopia in the world, so there is a ready pool of people eager to do away with glasses and contact lenses through Lasik surgery.
Some four years ago, it used to cost about S$2,300 to 'Lasik' one eye. Now, prices have tumbled 40 percent to about S$1,300.
The price war started in late 2003 when the Health Ministry required all public hospitals to publish their bill sizes.
Apart from cost competitiveness, doctors said increased cost efficiency in equipment and medical products has also allowed doctors to adjust prices.
Dr Chan Wing Kwong, Senior Consultant Ophthalmologist, Head of Refractive Surgery Services, Singapore National Eye Centre, said: "In the earlier years when Lasik was relatively more expensive, there was a market for some patients who are budget conscious to go overseas to have their surgery. (But) I think many Singaporeans would rather have their surgery done in Singapore by a Singapore facility.
"The moment the cost competiveness becomes better, I think many Singaporeans who were going to take the overseas route would decide to do it here. So basically the number of people who go overseas for Lasik is very negligible now."
Prices are set to come down further as Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan has said he wants all private hospitals and centres to post their bill sizes online. With greater transparency and competition, prices could only head southwards.
But patients need to realise that price is not everything.
Dr Lee Hung Ming, Medical Director, Senior Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon, Parkway Eye Centre, said: "It's good to have bill sizes published for the public because transparency is very important. But patients should not just look at the price alone. More importantly, the surgeon's experience and his expertise is a critical factor.
"The second important factor should be technology and then price should be the third factor. I don't think that the price should spiral all the way because ultimately, if the price really spirals down, then there're bound to be some centres that are cutting costs and also cutting corners, and that may eventually affect the outcome of Lasik."
Technological advances have made Lasik not only cheaper, but also safer.
Good surgical outcomes and reputation of Singapore doctors have also helped to draw in foreign patients like Ronald Butterfield.
The 63-year-old Canadian wants to correct his vision through Lasik. In the last seven years, he has consulted doctors back home and in Hong Kong, but no one wants to operate on him as he also suffers from cataract. So he came to Singapore for a second opinion.
Although he was told to wait till his cataract 'ripens' before having a Lasik surgery, Ronald walked away impressed.
He said: "The kind of brutal honesty was there and I felt that I've come to a medical centre that was concerned with my health, opposed to going to a business. If I were to go down the street to a Lasik centre, they could have done the Lasik tomorrow. He was supposed to have come from a medical point of view and I sensed that, and I trust him and I will come back!"
The Singapore National Eye Centre said it has been seeing 5 to 10 percent more foreign patients every year, most of them from Asia and even Middle East.
Article from: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/327682/1/.html
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