Raffles Medical Group: No choice but to raise prices

No more public hospital-priced services from this private healthcare provider as operating costs rise.

In a statement, DMG Research said Raffles Medical Group’s management is optimistic that it will be able to progressively revise its prices to cover the rise in operating expenses.

The officials stressed that while its charges are currently closer to what the public hospitals are charging, certain procedures at other private hospitals (Mount Elizabeth and Gleneagles) are 20% – 30% more expensive.

Raffles Medical’s 1Q net profit grew 10.9% YoY to S$11.6m, on the back of a 13.2% YoY revenue growth to S$72.9m.

1Q revenue is usually the weakest quarter for the Group.

The government has called for the private sector to provide healthcare services to subsidized patients, to help ease the current bed crunch at the public hospitals.

According to DMG Research, the move is seen to provide additional revenue stream for Raffles Medical and improve the utilisation of its facilities.

Raffles Medical Group has indicated that the increase would mainly be due to new hires (new doctors,
nurses and allied staff) for its Specialist Medical Centre at Thong Sia and its expanded hospital, both of which are progressing on track.

Responding to the government’s call, Raffles Medical pledged to provide healthcare services to subsidised patients at its hospital.

While the details are still being worked out, the scheme is widely expected to improve the utilisation of its facilities and add to revenue.