The Difficulties Of Choosing a Doctor
There are many factors to considerate when you are choosing a doctor in Singapore. Here are some of them:
- Their experience and years of clinical practice
- Their skills and specialty
- Where they received their medical training
- Whether they speak only English, Mandarin, or Bahasa Indonesia
- Where they practice
- Their reputation
- Their fees
- Their ability to care and communicate to patients
- Whether it is easy to schedule a suitable appointment
Sometimes:
- The “Most Reputable” doctor may be well known for one medical area but not most suitable for your particular condition.
- The “Most Experienced” doctor with many years of practice may be a good choice for complex conditions requiring more experience with rare illnesses but may not necessarily be the best choice if you have a very straightforward and common condition and would like a doctor who will solve it with the latest minimally invasive surgical techniques.
- The “Most Popular” doctor may come highly recommended by friends and online forums but seeing them may mean that you would have to expect long waiting times, and they may have no time to explain your condition fully due to their packed clinic appointments.
Why Use Our Doctor Recommendation Service
Actually, there are many ways for patients to choose a doctor such as:
- Referrals from friends and family – While such referrals tend to be more trusted and safe, most people do not have friends or family members with Exactly the same medical condition and experience with appropriate Singapore doctors.. A good doctor for their “similar” situation may actually not be a good choice for your specific medical situation and might sometimes prove to be a “wasted” visit.
- Medical Agents – Many foreign patients depend on the recommendation of medical agents to arrange their visit and choose an appropriate doctor. However, these agents do not work for free and would likely have to be paid a fee by the doctors(a practice not favured by most respectable doctors) or medical organisations they represent. It is more likely that only the less popular and more aggressive doctors will work with these agents to “market” and recommend their clinics. As a result, the “recommendation” by medical agents may not be as impartial and as appropriate as it should be. The doctors or medical organisations involved may even have to factor in the additional costs involved in paying the agents and need to bill patients more than they otherwise need to.
- Hospital referral service – most Singapore hospitals and medical groups have international patient services which help take care of foreign patients and make referrals. However, using their referral service may limit your options to only the doctors within their limited network.
- Visiting the hospitals directly and randomly choosing a specialist – While most prominent Singapore doctors traditionally practiced in Mount Elizabeth Hospital, with limited space and rising rentals, many excellent doctors have moved to nearby alternative locations, allowing them to charge lower fees to their patients. While most of these doctors already have a strong following and reputation, foreign patients may not necessarily be aware of their practices if they restrict their choices and “just show up” at the hospital.
Why Our Services Are Better:
- We take NO commission from doctors, hospitals or any other third party which allows us to be unbiased and comprehensive in our choice of recommendation. We strongly feel that it is important for us to give a more representative opinion by not being tied to, or “affiliated” with any specific doctor or hospital.
- We work ONLY for your best interests to identify the most suitable doctor who can help you solve your problem. It would likely also help you save thousands of dollars in medical fees by not making a wrong choice of doctors.
- We have spent countless hours researching various public and private sources, as well as use feedback from our past clients, to assess Singapore doctors in terms of their expertise, experience, and quality of patient care.
- We can help you choose a doctor who speaks your language.
- We offer you a way to find a “standby second opinion” in case u come all the way to Singapore for medical treatment but the original doctor you wanted is not suitable or too expensive. This is especially important if you are in Singapore for only a few days and do not have enough time to find a suitable second opinion.
- We can help you price compare for a cost effective doctor appropriate for your medical condition and budget.