With more than four decades of experience in the Thai healthcare industry, Sikarin Hospital has maintained a strong reputation in quality multi-speciality operations and affordability for all patients, including expatriates in Thailand.
Its next ambition is to provide holistic care while expanding its potential as an intelligent hospital.
Suriyan Kojonroj, deputy managing director and chief operating officer, has been at the helm since 2011.
The 42-year-old manages all three Sikarin hospitals: the 355-bed facility in Bangkok, the Sikarin Samut Prakan Hospital with 100 beds, and the 350-bed Sikarin Hat Yai Hospital.
In the first half of 2022, SET-listed Sikarin recorded total revenue of 3.1 billion baht, an increase of 904 million baht, or a 41% jump when compared with the same period last year.
The company's profit for the first six months of 2022 was 553 million baht, which amounts to a 129% year-on-year increase.
SMART HOSPITAL
Mr Suriyan said part of the growth came from the hospital's continuous improvement of patient care through the integration of technologies and the transformation towards a smart hospital.
He said it was important to ensure the transformation goes beyond pouring capital into expensive investment in health tech because the optimal value from tech comes from its ability to relieve business pain points and from all stakeholders' ability to gain insight from shared data.
"First, we identified that the biggest issue in running our hospitals is the high number of outpatients," said Mr Suriyan. "All three Sikarin hospitals admit about 4,000 outpatients per day on average. The amount of paperwork for each patient would have been unbearable.
"However, we have been going paperless and have an electronic medical record to help increase efficiency. This means all information, which was ethically gathered according to the Personal Data Protection Act, is safely protected and stored in our system."
He said this process led him to mull what to do with the data, and he imagined greatly expanding Sikarin Hospital's services.
"It is not just patients coming in, getting checked, treated or hospitalised, then returning home, because that would be a straight-line service, not the holistic one we aim to offer," said Mr Suriyan.
Furthermore, Thailand is expected to become an "aged society" this year, where people aged over 60 account for more than 20% of the population, highlighting demand in the medical and holistic care sectors.
"I noticed that many important events could happen between when the patient was discharged and when he or she needed to come back for a follow-up appointment. Wanting to fulfil our responsibilities as a hospital, I could complete the circle by having a telemedicine service, sending healthcare professionals to a patient's home for consultation, or getting instant information on what to do if certain symptoms show up," he said.
As a result, Sikarin Hospital is developing a new digital application to fulfil those needs, and is planning to launch the app in the fourth quarter of this year.
Among other services, the app will offer telemedication, a real-time service through electronic communications or software that provides clinical services to patients without an in-person visit to the hospital, said Mr Suriyan.
MOBILE UNITS
The road to promoting wellness and providing treatment is continuing with a relatively new service called mobile hospital units.
So far, the nine mobile units have served 500,000 people (80% Thai and 20% migrant or international) since the beginning of 2022 in many parts of Thailand, such as Bangkok, Chon Buri and Chachoengsao.
The mobile units visit three to four sites per day and process a large number of patients, with the two main services being smart health check-ups and smart dental, according to Sikarin Hospital.
"One major section of our customer base is our existing patients or clients who use Thai social security health coverage. However, some are not up to date with their health or dental check-ups. We understand factory and office workers can get busy and taking time off for check-ups can be a hassle," he said.
"Sikarin Hospital talked to these clients' employers and suggested we could drive our mobile units to their factories or firms and offer services to all of their employees."
Mr Suriyan said the process is simple and takes about 30-40 minutes. The clients have their blood taken and their teeth cleaned, then go back to work.
As a result, healthy employees are more productive and yield better results for companies, he said.
"I strongly believe when potentially life-threatening health conditions are detected early, it helps us plan proper treatment and ultimately reduces the cost for patients so they can take care of themselves in the long run," said Mr Suriyan.
INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS
Sikarin Hospital has been an accredited Joint Commission International (JCI) hospital since November 2012, and a leading acute care hospital in Thailand.
The healthcare facility also received a JCI accreditation for diabetes mellitus, while earning clinical care programme certification for primary stroke and acute myocardial infarction.
The hospital has an international patient centre with a team of advisors and interpreters in many languages. They assist expatriates and their families living in Thailand, as there are 12 international schools located near Sikarin Hospital in the Bang Na area, such as the American School of Bangkok, St. Andrews International School, Pan-Asia International School and Bangkok Patana School.
In addition, he said the hospital works closely with many embassies, especially those from the Middle East, to assist foreign patients with their travel, visas, accommodation and insurance arrangements.
Furthermore, Sikarin Hospital recently started conducting health check-ups and issuing certifications for Thai labourers going overseas for work.
Mr Suriyan said the hospital works closely with several embassies to ensure all the health check-ups performed at Sikarin are in line with what international authorities request. This includes for Thais who go to Taiwan, South Korea and Middle Eastern countries such as Saudi Arabia for work.
