S$14,000 for a health screening: Doctor Anywhere joins the luxe preventive care market. Will people pay?

PLUSH faux leather seats, sculptural ceiling lights, glossy bathrooms, fluffy bedroom slippers, soft music and a gentle, fresh scent in the air. This could be a luxury hotel. Except it isn’t.

Welcome to DA Orchard MedSuites, the newest health screening centre in town, all 12,000 square feet (sq ft) of it spread across the fifth level of Como Metropolitan Orchard. Aesthetically pleasing and armed with million-dollar imaging equipment such as a spanking new MRI machine, this is health screening at a whole new, luxe level.

Pick from a menu of screening options priced from S$519 to S$14,169. Settle into one of 17 private pods or check into one of three VIP suites, and enjoy an apple crumble along with your bottle of Perrier. Then spend the next few hours feeling more like you’ve opted for a lifestyle retreat than to see if there’s a health issue you need to worry about.

The “premier” screening centre by DA MedSuites – from health-tech company Doctor Anywhere (DA) – is just the latest to elevate health screening beyond mere blood, urine and stool tests to a decidedly more upmarket experience.

Goodbye sterility, hello luxury

For some, the traditional health screening process in cold, clinical and fluorescent-lit environments, where your health anxieties are amplified as you are directed from room to room, are over. After all, health screening in itself has changed due to newer and more accurate diagnostic tests.

“Consumers are looking for more personalised and comprehensive health screening with a focus on comfort and overall experience,” says Dr Eric Chiam, founder and chief executive officer of Minmed Group. The availability of non-fasting tests, for instance, means consumers can skip the fasting routine and do their health screening at any time of the day.

Technological advancements have also led to pivotal changes to the health screening experience, he says. These include ease of comparison for offerings from different providers on their websites, availability of pre-screening consultations to aid package selection, 24/7 online appointment booking with instant confirmation, as well as drastically shortened turnaround times for health report delivery.

All that and an increase in disposable income have led to health screening centres offering a more pampering experience.

Tapping into this, Dr Chiam in June 2023 opened Minmed Wellness Collective, which combines a health screening centre with fitness classes at iconic locations in Jewel Changi Airport.

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Open daily, the 1,500 sq ft centre is designed to resemble first-class travel amenities, with seven upscale private screening suites featuring ergonomically designed leather chairs. Test results are available the next working day and delivered electronically, while follow-ups via teleconsultation are an option, making it convenient for travellers.

Dr Chiam says take up of health screening at its Jewel outlet is “healthy”. Minmed also has three other locations for executive health screening, with package prices at up to S$2,100.

Over at Healthway Medical, its three executive health screening centres feature individual health screening pods with custom-made leather upholstered seats. Packages go up to S$4,980 and VIP services include door-to-door limousine service, dedicated concierge staff, priority queue for follow-up appointments and screening results, and a full meal served after screening.

Meanwhile, one of the pioneers and largest players in the local health screening market is Parkway Shenton. Its first executive health screening centre – under the Shenton Medical Group – was set up in 1983 at 9 Battery Road under licence from the Executive Health Examiners in New York.

Today, Parkway Shenton provides bespoke services such as an expedited screening process, private rooms and preferred meals to an exclusive segment of patients. These are mostly high-net-worth foreigners, including visiting politicians favouring discreet services.

More than an apple a day to keep the doctor away

Operators credit the government’s push for preventive care via Healthier SG and Screen for Life for building awareness.

“As a primary-care service provider, we’ve seen a significant shift towards preventive medicine, especially with the heightened health awareness post-Covid,” says Healthway Medical’s chief operating officer, Ong Hon Yuh. “We’ve noticed a rising trend in the public’s proactive engagement with health screening and vaccinations aimed at early disease detection.”

Clients are also getting younger, says Dr Joel Foo, medical director at ATA Medical. “Previously, we encountered individuals who were 50 years and older, but now, the majority of our patients are in their 30s to 50s.”

Indeed, Dr Foo is a firm believer in preventive care. He was a cardiothoracic surgical trainee managing patients at the end-stage of cardiovascular disease when he decided midway through his training that prevention was simply better than cure.

“On top of severe, irreversible damage to the coronary vessels, these patients also had associated cerebrovascular and kidney disease,” he says. “It struck me that with early detection and treatment of cardiovascular risk factors, a majority of these devastating outcomes could have been prevented.”

So he left his specialist training and started ATA Medical – a dedicated health screening clinic at Anson House – at the height of the pandemic in 2020. It now has a second screening centre at Camden Medical Centre in Orchard. Excluding GST, packages start from S$70 and go all the way to S$6,700 for extensive screening, including for heart disease, stroke and up to 50 cancers.

Back at DA MedSuites, its starting point, says Lim Wai Mun, DA’s founder and chief executive officer, is a holistic approach combining healthcare and education. Given that diet greatly affects health outcomes, it will host on-site food and nutrition masterclasses to empower clients.

On top of that, clients of its top screening packages will enjoy DA MedSuites Club Privileges, which include a wellness package at Como Shambhala Singapore.

Lim is particularly chuffed that not only is the screening centre a one-stop shop with state-of-the-art equipment, but all its services are located on one floor, so patients don’t even need to move around much to get tests done.

“At the same time, it’s not just about the hardware, but also the thinking and the people behind the experience,” he says of the 20-strong staff. “So it also has to look good, smell good and sound good.”

Despite its very upscale set-up, Lim does not want DA MedSuites to be perceived as high-end. Instead, he sees it as part of DA’s integrated healthcare ecosystem, which now includes primary care and a chain of specialist clinics. Besides, when comparing across the market test by test, he says DA’s packages are pitched at the “mid to slightly upper” end of the pricing structure.

Demand outstripping supply

While health screening operators don’t know exactly how much the market is worth, Parkway Shenton’s chief executive officer, Tay Wee Kai, reckons it would be over S$150 million. The group has five screening centres – three of them hospital-based.

The key market for its executive health screening services are corporate clients, who make up 70 per cent of the business. The remainder are private-paying clients, of whom about half are locals and the other half are patients coming from the region, such as Indonesia and Vietnam.

Growth of Parkway Shenton’s screening business is at a “high single-digit” and demand has come from both corporate and private clients. “More companies are introducing health screening benefits, especially for the more senior executives,” says Tay. Meanwhile, the profile of the private-paying patient has shifted to include not just the well-heeled, but also the middle-income group.

“We see people who previously might not think that health screening is something they should invest in,” he says. Parkway Shenton’s top package costs S$6,428 and is more popular with foreigners who travel here to seek its services.

Over at Minmed, its health screening business has grown 43 per cent from 2019 to 2023.

But with an increasing number of players, is the executive health screening market getting a little too crowded?

Not so, says Tay.

“From our perspective, the challenge today is more of a capacity issue. Capacity is falling behind, while demand is growing quite strongly. So, even with so many players in the market, we still find difficulty matching our capacity to the demand.”

To compound the problem, there is also a shortage of manpower, for example in allied health professionals such as radiographers and sonographers.

This has led to longer waiting times for patients, something that DA’s Lim has also been hearing about.

“Some of our customers are telling us that they’ve had to wait two to three months to get a screening appointment,” he says. “So, I think demand has outstripped capacity.”

Since DA MedSuites opened early this month, it has also been getting calls from companies that it has not dealt with previously, asking if they could send their employees down for health screening.

“The feedback has been quite amazing and we’re starting to see all this traction,” says Lim, who estimates the preventive care market to be worth “easily a few hundred million dollars a year”.

Indeed, DA MedSuites is working with Como Metropolitan Singapore to cross-sell rooms and screening services. This could be a model DA can replicate elsewhere in the region.

Meanwhile, Parkway Shenton will open a new screening centre in the first half of this year. It will be located in Bedok Central, to meet demand in the east where there are many “affluent residents” and expatriates, says Tay.

Too much of a good thing?

To be clear, affordable and government subsidised basic screening services are readily available at private GP clinics and polyclinics.

Still, the mushrooming of luxe health screening may give the impression that the more tests you do, the better. More worryingly, will the quest to provide comprehensive preventive care lead to overconsumption of healthcare services, unnecessary tests, worry and expense?

“That’s an age-old question that has been the source of a lot of dilemmas in today’s healthcare delivery,” admits Tay. “I think it depends on the professionalism of the service provider and, of course, the doctor. So, the short answer is yes, there is a possibility of over-investigation, but it is normally quite controlled at the doctor’s level.”

The doctor, says DA’s Lim, has to be the gatekeeper.

“I don’t want to be hypocritical and say we’re doing this just for the betterment of mankind,” he says. “At the end of the day, we’re not a charity organisation. We’re still profit-driven. But I won’t, because of money, say, ‘hey, you should also do this and that test’. So you need to have gatekeepers to advise on what’s appropriate and what’s not, so people don’t overscreen.”

To avoid over-investigation and over-treatment, Healthway Medical’s Ong emphasises that physicians must always put patients’ interests first, have a thorough understanding of the tests they are ordering, and communicate the relevant and necessary information to the patient. The risks, benefits and limitations of the tests should also be clearly explained so patients can make informed decisions.

Besides, there are guidelines from the Ministry of Health on screening tests, Parkway Shenton’s Tay points out. Doctors are also required to counsel patients before they do genetic tests, for instance.

“Patients need to be told about possible outcomes they have to consider if they do these tests, and that they have to be able to manage them,” he says. “So, there is actually quite a tight regulation over this space.”

But since most people select their packages, then make a booking before the first consultation, how can they be guided by the doctor to make the right choices? The sheer number of screening packages and possible permutations of tests can also be confusing for the layman.

To overcome the problem, ATA’s Dr Foo encourages a pre-screening consultation so that a doctor can advise which package to select.

“A competent screening centre should never leave a patient to select from a large array of tests and packages,” he says, adding that ATA is flexible with its packages. “Health screening is not about picking the most expensive package, because it might not be relevant for you.”

At times, Healthway Medical has advised clients and patients against doing tests that are not necessary, says Ong. “We firmly believe that patients should be clinically indicated for additional or more advanced – and expensive – tests such as CT and MRI scans.”

While DA’s Lim recommends simply booking the cheapest package and then going for a consultation to establish if any other tests are needed, Parkway Shenton’s Tay says patients don’t have to stick with the packages they book online. They can add tests or opt for a smaller package when they arrive for screening.

Given that the variety of screening options will continue to grow, consumers – even affluent ones – will do well to consider not just the VIP treatment they receive, but also how extensively they want to be tested.