KUALA LUMPUR, May 25 (Bernama) — IHH Healthcare Bhd is leveraging artificial intelligence, operational efficiency and ambulatory care expansion to manage rising medical inflation without heavily passing costs on to patients.
Group chief executive officer Dr Prem Kumar Nair said medical inflation across markets is running at double-digit percentage levels, but the group has limited price increases to around two to three per cent.
“Across all countries, medical inflation today is running in the teens, while Singapore is also pretty high.
“Hence, medical inflation is (relatively about the same), but we can only raise our prices by at most, maybe two to three per cent max. We are not increasing it according to inflation,” he told reporters after its 16th annual general meeting here today.
He said medical innovations, procurement improvements, technology adoption and enhancing workforce efficiency have enabled the group to continue delivering strong results despite rising costs.
Meanwhile, group chief financial officer Dilip Kadambi said IHH Healthcare is investing in ambulatory care centres and daycare facilities across Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong and China. They offer similar patient outcomes at lower costs compared with an inpatient hospital setting.
“Because of technology, there are procedures that can be done safely in a daycare setting,” he said.
“The outcome is no different, and the cost is much lower. The capital cost of setting up a daycare centre is lower than setting up a hospital,” he said.
On the impact of geopolitical tensions on pharmaceutical supply chains, Dilip said most of the group’s medical supplies are sourced within Asia; a small portion comes from Europe and the United States.
He said IHH Healthcare aims to sustain growth with less capital expenditure, supported by investments in ambulatory and daycare centres.
“Our planned capex is between RM2 billion and RM2.5 billion across the group this year, down from RM3.5 billion last year.
“We are rationalising capex, but not compromising on growth,” he said.
Amid rising healthcare costs, group chief medical officer Dr Keith Lim said the group is exploring generic medicines as an alternative to proprietary drugs.
“We're strong advocates (of this). We try to use generic medication where possible to save costs, not only for us but also for the patients,” he said.
On operations in Turkey, Dr Prem said they are operating as normal with no direct impact from the conflict.
“There may be some impact with respect to patients from West Asia, but they have a wide source of foreign patients. They also have operations in Europe.
“Turkey has been a significant contributor,” he said, adding that the group sees growth opportunities there and in other key markets.
— BERNAMA
