Patients Beyond Borders Focus On: Bumrungrad International. Josef Woodman
has met those expectations and exceeded them, expanding from its original 200-bed facility into its current state-of-the-art hospital, clinic, and research facilities, which average over 300 inpatients and 3,000 outpatients daily.
A Diversity of Exceptional Care
Bumrungrad International is the largest private hospital campus in Southeast Asia. It is also the largest private clinic in the region. Bumrungrad’s 400-plus bed inpatient facility provides a full range of tertiary healthcare services. Its 19 operating rooms are equipped for most general surgery procedures and surgical specialties.
The hospital offers over 80 clinical specialties and subspecialties, including cardiology, oncology, endocrinology (diabetes and metabolism), nephrology (kidneys), neurology, and gastroenterology. Bumrungrad’s Heart Center offers pacemaker implantation, invasive and noninvasive procedures for congenital heart disease, valve replacement, and coronary artery bypass graft (CABG). The hospital’s Horizon Regional Cancer Center employs such advanced techniques as image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT) and high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy. The Bumrungrad Spine Institute employs new pain intervention and endoscopic surgical techniques that reduce trauma and speed recovery. Orthopedic procedures such as hip replacement and resurfacing are also popular among Bumrungrad’s local and international patients.
A Commitment to Quality
Staff, medical professionals, and service personnel undergo continuous training, evaluation, and quality control with programs ranging from regular “town hall meetings” at which staff members raise concerns and solve problems to formal, external assessments from the world’s most prestigious medical accreditation agencies, including the Joint Commission International (JCI). In 2002 Bumrungrad became Asia’s first hospital to obtain JCI accreditation, and it has been reaccredited three times since then. It was the first hospital outside the US to receive two JCI disease- or condition-specific care certifications, for its primary stroke program and heart attack program. This attention to quality assessment benefits patients, promoting faster, “best practice” responses to critical and acute conditions and, consequently, an improved chance of survival and recovery.
Bumrungrad tracks more than 80 quality indicators, consistent with standards set by such organizations as the American Heart Association. In 2009 Bumrungrad was among the first hospitals to join the International Quality Indicator Project, which allows hospitals to measure their own performance indicators over time and against an aggregate database of their international peers.
Thailand has its own hospital accreditation program conducted and overseen by the Institute of Hospital Quality Improvement and Accreditation. Bumrungrad was the first hospital in the country to be accredited by this program in 1999.
Led by a US-trained group medical director, Bumrungrad sponsors an active continuing medical education program for its physicians, who also participate in clinical research through Bumrungrad’s Clinical Research Center. Bumrungrad participates in the quality-assurance programs of the Royal College of Pathologists of Australia and in the European Union quality-control program for molecular diagnostics.
A Global Hospital
Bumrungrad has been praised as the world’s first truly global hospital. This accolade is not an exaggeration: Bumrungrad can document service to patients from nearly every country in the world, with more than 3 million medical travelers treated since 1998. Bumrungrad serves about 600,000 Thai patients annually. From there, the hospital’s reach extends to Southeast Asia and beyond.
“We have a large number of patients who are either expats in Thailand or come from surrounding countries such as Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, and Bangladesh, who are using us as a regional center of excellence and for advanced treatment,” says Bumrungrad’s marketing director, Kenneth Mays.“We get about 25,000 patients a year from North America, and a little less than 25,000 patients each from Europe and East Asia—Japan, China, and so forth. We get over 100,000 patients a year from the Middle East and those are mainly the Gulf countries—principally the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Oman—and growing numbers from Africa and Australia. At some point in the year, we’ll see a patient from about every country in the world.” Why do so many people travel long distances for care at Bumrungrad? “They come to us for quality, value, fast access, and responsive service,” Mays says.
In addition to its flagship hospital in Bangkok, Bumrungrad International also owns or manages acute-care hospitals in the Philippines and the UAE. Referral offices in 15 countries serve the global community from Ethiopia to Australia.
Bumrungrad by the Numbers
For the medical traveler, there is safety in numbers—and by nearly any measure, Bumrungrad is big. The more experienced your physicians, the better your outlook for a successful treatment outcome. The more experienced the hospital staff, the better your chances that your case will be handled with competence and efficiency. There’s an economy of scale in numbers, too, that reduces costs and improves service.
Facts and Figures
900+: Nurses
1:4: Nurse-patient ratio
19: Operating rooms
34: Clinical specialties
55: Clinical subspecialties
172: Clinic suites in dedicated outpatient centers
250: Outpatient examination suites
400+: Acute-care beds
1,200: Physicians, surgeons, dentists, and consultants
220+: Physicians, surgeons, dentists, and consultants who are US board certified
30,000+: Admissions per year*
400,000+: International patient visits and admissions per year*
977,000: Outpatient clinic visits per year*
2,500,100: Laboratory tests per year
3,000,000+: International patients treated since 1998*
1,500,000: Square feet of diagnostic and therapeutic facilities
325,000,000: 2010 turnover in US dollars
50–75: Percent cost savings over US prices
*Patient volume is determined by episodes of care rather than individual patients.
The Bumrungrad Hospital Foundation
The Bumrungrad Hospital Foundation (BHF) is a registered nonprofit foundation established in May 1990 by the founders of Bumrungrad International. BHF conducts a wide range of charitable activities benefiting the health of underprivileged Thais. It sponsors or subsidizes expenses for Thais who require surgical procedures but cannot afford medical treatment. It also promotes health education to the general public and scholarships for underprivileged youth.
Under sponsorship from the Thompson Fund, the medical team of Bumrungrad International has provided free care services to a total of 100,000 underprivileged patients since 2001. Most are elderly people in 30 districts within the greater Bangkok metropolitan area.
Working with the Cardiac Children Foundation of Thailand, BHF provides pediatric cardiac surgeries for disadvantaged children with life-threatening heart defects. From 2004 through December 2010, 319 free surgeries have been performed.
Achievements and Awards
1999
First hospital accredited by Hospital Accreditation Thailand
2002
Asia’s first hospital accredited by US-based JCI
Export Award as Outstanding Private Hospital from Thailand’s Prime Minister