Thailand is the world leader for medical tourism, but which hospital within Thailand is best for you? This article, part three of a series on Medical Tourism, explores the top two choices. While there are many hospitals in Thailand that cater to medical tourists, these are two full-service facilities that have strong reputations for quality and experience with foreigners. The aspiring medical tourist should consider these two before any other Thai hospitals, even ones with a slightly lower cost, as they are the gold standard for medical tourism not only in Thailand but worldwide.
Pictures (top) Bumrungrad Hospital's main building and entrance
Pictures (below) Bangkok Hospital's Buildings and one of their entrance
Background and Location Bumrungrad Hospital treats over 400,000 foreign patients every year and has made medical tourism its major focus. The monolithic hospital consists of a large tower and several associated buildings adjoining, all conveniently located in downtown Bangkok. The hospital is within walking distance of Bangkok’s Skytrain (light rail system) but only barely, and given the heat usual in Thailand most patients are strongly advised to take a taxi. International patients are so much a part of Bumrungrad’s focus that they recently broke from their single tower architecture and built a separate International Tower that caters specially to foreigners with a brand new Physical Exam wing and upgraded VIP rooms. Bangkok Hospital Group is a network of Thai hospitals focused on Bangkok and sprawling into the provinces and even Cambodia, though the portion of this that is most important to foreigners is their Bangkok Hospital Medical Center (BMC) complex. This campus consists of their International Hospital as well as their main General Hospital and a collection of specialty hospitals, including their Heart Hospital, Rehabilitation Center and Dental Clinic. The BMC is a series of adjacent buildings connected by skywalks and, apart from the main General Hospital building, are new having been built in the past five years. The BMC is located near, but not walking distance from, several Skytrain and subways stations, so a taxi is in order in this case as well. While BMC and Bumrungrad treat about the same number of total patients each, a lower proportion of BMC’s patients are from overseas and total only 150,000 annually, though these are often for more serious treatments. These top hospitals charge more for their services than most other Thai hospitals, but also offer services that cannot be found elsewhere. Fortunately for a direct comparison, their costs are very similar across the board and the focus can be on their service and capabilities.
Pictures: Patient room and waiting area (top) at Bumrungrad Hospital
and (below) at the Bangkok Hospital
Layout and Impressions Bumrungrad Hospital is, as previously mentioned, monolithic. Visitors enter into the lobby of the main tower at the ground floor, but this and the next floor contain mostly restaurants, coffee shops and the cafeteria. The Hospital portion does not begin until the third floor, where the patient is greeted with a larger lobby and registration area. Elegantly uniformed staff register new patients with digital cameras – both Bumrungrad and BMC are very tech savvy hospitals with test results updated and delivered electronically and pictures of each patient checked at every stage to avoid foul-ups. This registration area is both the point of entry and exit, and next to registration are desks for checkout and a pharmacy. On every floor of Bumrungrad runs a long, wide hallway with specialty clinics and divisions branching off, generally four to six per floor. Each has its own lobby, which looks out onto the hall. The older main tower and new international tower are quite different, with the older tower very much feeling like a mature hospital, with traditional waiting areas and layout, while the new wing is decidedly more modern and up-to-date, from the lobbies and hallways to furnishings in patient rooms. Upon walking into BMC’s main building, one is immediately greeted with the registration staff. They are far more eager to register you than those at Bumrungrad, though this has a strong basis in necessity. Upon registration, a patient’s schedule will likely initially take them to another building, or several buildings if they have multiple appointments. The BMC staff then ensure that you are taken to the right building or floor of the main structure. There are enclosed walkways between the buildings, however most patients are initially led to the shuttles, which are over-sized gold carts or minivans that scoot patients around the campus. Each division, clinic or specialty hospital at BMC has its own modular area with it’s own independent registration and cashier services (so you don’t have to go through the main lobby at all, if you know where you’re going). These lobbies, especially in the newer buildings, are considerably more aesthetically appealing and pleasant to wait in than many of Bumrungrad’s specialty clinic lobbies, mostly due to their smaller size, more updated furnishings and clever architectural design. Like Bumrungrad, there is a clear difference in ambiance between their older General Hospital building and the new, adjoining specialty centers. One major difference between these hospitals is their monolithic vs. modular nature. In Thailand’s heat, having all clinics in the same building would tend to be an advantage, though BMC would counter that almost all of their modules are actually linked by skybridges, so their campus is mostly connected by air-conditioned walkways. One bonus of BMC’s (and the Bangkok Hospital Group’s) modular design with different specialty hospitals is that one hospital happens to be located in Phuket. The famed, or infamous, Bangkok Hospital Phuket is renowned as a world leader in sex-change operations, but is also a state-of-the-art hospital for more mundane purposes and nothing beats Phuket’s beaches for physical therapy and recuperation after a surgery in Bangkok, which the Phuket Hospital supervises and coordinates.
| | Pictures: (left) at Bumrungrad Hospital (below) One of many MRI scanners at the Bangkok Hospital |
Staff and Technical Capabilities It’s certainly very difficult to compare the level of skill in physicians and nurses for two world-class hospitals like Bumrungrad and BMC. They boast similar proportions of foreign-trained doctors, especially those trained in the US and EU. Nursing staff are professional and abundant in both and interpreters are available in a large number of languages. BMC goes a step beyond this by hiring a physician and nurse from their major patient nationalities (ie a Saudi doctor and nurse for Saudi patients) and having significant staff and facilities specially devoted to Japanese and Middle-Eastern patients, who represent a large proportion of their patient base and are generally very appreciative of services in their native language. Unlike many other aspects of a hospital experience, the sheer technical capabilities of a hospital are somewhat easily quantified, and it is in this aspect that Bangkok Hospital most outshines its competitor. BMC has focused a tremendous amount of resources to being on the cutting edge of medical technology, and while Bumrungrad is certainly not unsophisticated, there is general agreement that Bumrungrad is a solid step behind BMC technologically. BMC’s hi-tech drive falls into two general areas: advanced imaging and non-invasive surgery. Their advanced imaging options include at least seven MRI scanners in their main campus alone. Each department receives its own specialized diagnostic equipment, unlike many hospitals which must pool resources, including Digital Mammography and a brand new 128-slice CT scanner currently being installed. It is peerless in South-East Asia, and BMC boasts one of Thailand’s only two clinical PET-CT scanners. The non-invasive offerings include state-of-the-art radiation systems such as the Novalis device for brain tumors and robotic laparoscopic surgery for both heart and joint operations (with different robots, of course). Bumrungrad simply does not compete in this field, which gives BMC a decisive advantage in the specific operations these advanced machines enable; reducing risk, discomfort and hospital stay time. The overall level of service in each hospital is remarkably similar. Both rely heavily on an integrated and ubiquitous IT system that shepherds patients from area to area and relays patient information, including test results, digitally between doctor and technician. Their systems are extraordinarily efficient by American standards. This also makes bill payment very simple and straightforward in both. Between the two, BMC has stepped ahead of Bumrungrad in terms of arrangements with insurers, both of the international and regional variety, which makes it easier to automatically claim insurance (they take care of it for you completely in most cases). Bumrungrad also offers help with paperwork, but their connections are significantly less extensive and it shows in that for many people there is a good deal more work to do with their insurers. Reputation and Marketing Bumrungrad is probably the best-marketed hospital in the world. Their fame is well deserved, but their marketing staff and management have put a tremendous effort in being “The” medical tourist hospital that potential patients in the Western world have heard of, specifically through news reports on ABC and CBS as well as multiple appearances in Newsweek. BMC, in contrast, is more famous within Thailand and elsewhere in Asia and the Middle East. Both hospitals treat approximately the same total number of patients – about 1 million a year – however Bumrungrad began courting foreign patients much earlier than BMC and now draws 400,000 foreign patients a year to BMC’s 150,000-250,000. It is worth noting that different hospitals use different metrics to calculate these numbers (visits vs. patients) so these comparisons must be taken with a grain of salt, however it is commonly accepted that Bumrungrad’s proportion is higher than BMC’s, though not by as much as the disclosed numbers suggest. While BMC’s focus for the future includes increasing the proportion of foreign patients, the target countries of both hospitals will likely remain the same with Bumrungrad focusing on the US and BMC focusing on the Middle-East and Asia, affecting the level of marketing in each area. Part of Bumrungrad’s early marketing included aggressive pursuit of international certification, and as a result Bumrungrad correctly claims a number of regional “Firsts” with various international credentialing organizations. In many ways, Bumrungrad was a trendsetter and these certifications were necessary when no one had even heard the term “medical tourism” and there were serious doubts about the quality of a Thai hospital. Today, the first and second tier of Thai hospitals are firmly within international standards and rising acceptance of medical tourism make this less necessary. BMC has, itself, a slew of acronyms attesting to its quality, many of which overlap Bumrungrad’s, and comparing certifications should be less important to the potential medical tourist than other aspects of reputation, but for a nervous first time medical tourist Bumrungrad’s list of “firsts” can be welcome reassurance. Conclusion A medical tourist would be well taken care of in either of these world-class hospitals. Both boast new wings dedicated to foreign medical tourists and sophisticated computer registration and billing systems that make the entire experience very smooth. For lower-level care they are remarkably similar, however for high-tech treatments BMC’s massive technological lead is significant. Simply put, if a patient is seeking complicated heart, brain or joint surgery, there is no question which hospital to go with. While they are neck and neck on most categories, this technological edge and a number of areas where BMC is just a little bit ahead of the curve in service set it apart as the top medical tourism destination.
