HEISNOTAdoctorbutTonyTanChoonKeatknowsalotaboutmedicine--andthebusinessofprovidinghealthcaretoincreasinglyaffluentAsians.Tan,whosaysheisinhismid-40s,ischairmanofParkwayGroupHealthcare,Singapore'sleadingprivatehospitalcompany,andgroupmanagingdirectorofitsparent,ParkwayHoldings.AchemicalengineerwhohasanMBAfromtheUniversityofCalifornia,herecentlyspokewithAsiaweek'sSanthaOorjitham.Excerpts:IsthebusinessofprivatemedicalcareboominginAsia?Privatehealthcareiscorrelatedwithincomelevel.Withahighlevelofeducation,peopledemandandwantthebest.Theywanttopickthebestdoctorsandthelevelofcomfortandservice.Theyarepreparedtopayforthese.Westartedwaybackin1987withGleneagleshospital,whenSingaporewascomingoutofarecession.Noonewasdoingitatthetime.Knowingtherateofpopulationgrowth,wecanextrapolateahugedemandwithinthenextfiveyears.It'sthedawnofgrowthinthehealthcarebusinessandthere'stremendouspotentialforusbecausewe'replacedinthepositionofdominantplayer.ButpublicfacilitiesarealreadyexcellentinSingapore.Thereisalotofcompetitionfromthegovernment,whichhasdeeperpockets.Forexample,theSingaporeGeneralHospitalrecentlyboughta$6.4-milliongammaknife[forbraintumors].That'snotviableforus.Sowehavetobealwaysonestepaheadinservice,standardsofdeliveryofcare,efficiencyandmanagementoftechnology.We'relookingatniches--heart,eyes,stand-alonecancercenters--whichrequirelowinvestmentandofferphenomenalreturns.市场策略Whataboutfull-scalehospitals?WehavethreeinSingaporeandoneinPenang.AnotherisopeninginKualaLumpurbytheendoftheyear,alongwithoneeachinJakartaandMedan.ParkwayhospitalswillalsobecompletedinSriLankaandIndiaandahearthospitalinLondonbytheendof1997.We'relookingathealthinfrastructure--thedisposalofclinicalwasteandothersupportservicesforexistinghospitals.We'rediscussingretirementhomes,althoughthismaynotgodownwelluntilthere'sachangeintheAsianmindset.WehopetoopenmorefacilitiesinIndia,startingwithDelhi.InChina,we'reoperatingtheprivatewingofapublichospitalinQuanzhouonatrialbasis.Chinaisnotreadyforprivatehealthcareonabigscaleyet.Perhapsinfiveyears'time.泉州Whataretheproblemsfacingprivatehealthproviders?Thereisahighbarriertoentry--highinvestmentandhighrunningcosts.Youmustestablishatrackrecordbecauseit'samatteroflifeordeath.Youhavetoattractdoctorsandnurses.Ifequipmentbecomesobsoleteorisnotutilizedenough,youlosemoney.Youneedvolumetoinvestbutyoumaynotgetthevolumeuntilyouinvest.Whendemandisenormous,thecrunchwillbeonsupportservicesandstaff.That'swhywespendalargepercentageofourbudgetontraining.Wehave20trainersforthenursingstaffand,oneyearbeforeopeningahospital,werecruitstaffandtrainnurses.Butwithhighvolume[ofpatients],wecanalsobuymoresophisticatedequipmentandthebusinessbecomesmoreviable.
