One of Singapore's biggest insurers, NTUC Income (Income), has announced a joint venture (JV) with Denver headquartered healthcare provider DaVita to operate kidney dialysis centres in Singapore.
The JV, DaVita Singapore, will also include community care provider NTUC Health, a leading provider of health and eldercare services in Singapore. This collaboration between an insurer, healthcare provider and community care provider is a first in Singapore.
The JV is set to open two dialysis centres by mid-2019. The dialysis centres will serve as Income’s preferred healthcare facilities, akin to its panel of private specialists.
Mr Andrew Yeo, general manager of Life & Health Insurance at Income, said, “With this industry-first collaboration, Income goes beyond its role as payer to become an enabler in the healthcare ecosystem. Similar to medical panels which are known to be effective in calibrating and managing the fees of healthcare providers, Income aims to achieve more via a value-based and outcome-driven approach that will underpin our panel of healthcare facilities, starting with the dialysis centres.
“Our latest effort is aligned with recommendations by the Health Insurance Task Force, which encourage all stakeholders in Singapore’s healthcare ecosystem to play a more active role in ensuring that healthcare and health insurance remain accessible and sustainable in Singapore.”
Dr Joseph Soon, president of Asia Pacific at DaVita International, said: “We are honoured to partner with Income and NTUC Health to provide world-class healthcare to patients in Singapore. Together, we share a commitment to provide differentiated care that is judged on the strength of its acknowledged clinical outcomes.”
Number of kidney dialysis patients increases
According to the National Kidney Foundation, Singapore currently ranks fourth in the world for prevalence of kidney failure and first for diabetes-induced kidney failure, a condition that becomes more prevalent as age progresses. In Singapore, the average age of patients with kidney failure is above 60 years. In this regard, NTUC Health is able to complement the JV with its experience in keeping seniors healthy and helping them age in place through its strong network of active-ageing, home-care, senior day care, day rehabilitation and nursing home services.
Mr Yeo added, “The number of patients undergoing kidney dialysis is growing 6% year on year according to the Singapore Renal Registry and our claims experience related to kidney disease also reflects a similar trend. As such, Income saw a strategic opportunity to influence kidney disease management in Singapore via a holistic and sustainable approach that focuses on achieving positive treatment outcome and cost efficiency, underpinned by strong patient and community education to raise awareness about disease prevention and care.”
Through DaVita Kidney Care and the DaVita Medical Group, DaVita is pushing for what healthcare could be by delivering high-quality clinical outcomes and managing the total cost of care. The company is the largest provider of kidney care services in the US. DaVita currently serves approximately 203,000 patients at 2,664 outpatient dialysis centres in the US. The company also operates 241 outpatient dialysis centres located in nine countries across Asia, Europe, the Middle East and South America.