THURSDAY / SEPTEMBER 20 2012 MICA (P) 002/02/2012 Your Life. Live it well. GETTING A SCAN? BE SOOTHED BY THE SEA THE NEWEST HOSPITAL HERE, MOUNT ELIZABETH NOVENA HOSPITAL, HAS PATIENT-FRIENDLY FEATURES pages12-14 WIN! POOR DIABETES HEALTHIER BROWNIE Skincare products CONTROL No yolk, no butter and health supplements One in two patients and just half worth more than $1,000 2 misses medication 6 the sugar 18 12 THE STRAITS TIMES SEPTEMBER 20 2012 Cover Story Scan spared patient from surgery A new machine which provides clearer scans of tumours is just one of several firsts offered at Mount Elizabeth Novena Hospital 60-year-old woman who had cancer in her vagina was spared from A disfiguring surgery because of a new NG WAN CHING type of scan that produces clearer images of organs in the pelvis. Computed tomography (CT) scans did not show any spread of her vaginal melanoma beyond the pelvic area. Not the most expensive hospital If this had been true, the cancer would be in stage 1 and surgery would have been performed to remove it. The newest hospital in Singapore may have the those are normally associated with some But the new machine, the positron emission latest technology and the most expensive room at complications.” tomography-magnetic resonance imaging (PET-MRI) $12,000 a night, but Mount Elizabeth Novena For example, a patient could have an underlying machine, picked up a 1cm-wide tumour outside the Hospital (MNH, above) is not the most expensive illness such as diabetes, which goes out of control patient’s pelvic area. one here, said its chief executive officer. either during or after surgery. This meant that the cancer was in stage 4 and Most of its charges are comparable with Mount But so far, the bill sizes for the same procedure surgery was no longer appropriate. Elizabeth Hospital off Orchard Road, said Dr Lee performed by the same surgeon in the two private The woman’s doctor, Dr See Hui Ti, a consultant Hong Huei. hospitals have been about the same, Dr Lee said. medical oncologist at Parkway Cancer Centre, said: Currently, regular room rates and hospital fees For example, a procedure to remove a gall “We used this information to decide not to send the are pegged to Mount Elizabeth Hospital, its sister bladder costs between $11,274 and $12,274 at patient for the disfiguring surgery and started her on hospital under private health-care company MNH. immediate chemotherapy. Parkway Pantai, he said. This is comparable with the median of $13,771 “This nodule was small and potentially could have For example, a day’s stay in a single room at for the same procedure at Mount Elizabeth been missed using other imaging modalities.” MNH costs $578 while doing so at Mount Hospital. Singapore’s newest hospital, Mount Elizabeth Elizabeth Hospital costs the same. At another private hospital here, Raffles Novena Hospital (MNH), where Parkway Cancer In hospitals, the final bill size of any surgical Hospital, the median is $12,887. Centre has a clinic, is the first here to use the procedure depends on a few key factors. In comparison, patients who stayed in A class PET-MRI machine to scan patients. These include the duration of surgery, the wards in public hospitals and did not receive any This is one of a few firsts that the new hospital, equipment and consumables used, and whether subsidies from the Government paid less. which opened on July 1, has scored for the private the patient has any other underlying condition such The median at National University Hospital was health-care sector. as diabetes and suffers from complications. $4,666, while that at Singapore General Hospital ST PHOTOS: AZIZ HUSSIN Dr Lee noted: “When bill sizes are off the norm, was $5,717. The others include an advanced surgical system Mount Elizabeth Novena Hospital is the first here to offer PET-MRI scans, which allow doctors to see better if there is any tumour present in the patient and if it has spread. for brain and spine surgery, and a purpose-built hybrid operating theatre, where both open surgery cells and will show these cells on the scan. PET-CT scan costs $2,100. procedures are done separately in a conventional anaesthesia levels would be lower. Dr Lee said: “With the rapid advancements in the and minimally invasive procedures can be MRI uses a strong magnetic field to capture operating theatre. This would result in a faster recovery with a medical field, it is inevitable that we would have to performed. detailed images of the internal structure of the body. CUTTING-EDGE TECHNOLOGY The use of the hybrid operating theatre benefits shorter stay in the hospital. progress towards sub-specialisation (further Raffles Hospital, for example, does not have the Doing an MRI scan and a PET scan Another first for the private sector at MNH is the patients with complex conditions. For example, an The usual length of hospital stay for open specialisation). We are essentially providing active PET-MRI machine or the hybrid operating theatre. simultaneously, but without a CT scan, gives O-arm surgical imaging system integrated with a elderly heart patient with multiple blocked arteries, coronary artery bypass surgery is between seven and support to facilitate the process.” These are fairly new introductions to the pinpoint accuracy. The radiation level is also lower surgical navigation system, which is used for spine, heart failure, long-standing diabetes and maybe a 10 days, but patients who have had a hybrid The heart and vascular centre is one such health-care scene and the hospital management is than that of a PET-CT scan, doctors said. orthopaedic and trauma-related surgery. previous stroke could be treated in the hybrid procedure can be discharged within four to five days, example. It has 12 heart specialists with different evaluating them at the moment, said a spokesman The machine improves resolution of the images of The O-arm surgical imaging system provides operating theatre without the need for open heart said Dr Yan. further specialisations. for Raffles Hospital. structures especially in the head, neck and pelvis, real-time images of a patient’s anatomy with surgery. They are seven times more likely to return to work The Clinical Imaging Research Centre at National This will eliminate the need for the patient, allowing doctors to see better if there is any tumour high-quality images and a large field-of-view in both If his most important heart artery – the left within one month instead of the usual three months especially one with a complex issue, to go from University of Singapore is the only other owner of a present and if it has spread, said Dr See. two and three dimensions during surgery. anterior descending artery – is blocked along with for a standard coronary bypass surgery, he said. PET-MRI machine in Singapore, but uses it for clinic to clinic seeking multiple opinions, said “We look at every imaging modality as a welcome By integrating the O-arm with a surgical navigation other lesser arteries, the hybrid operating theatre, The hybrid operating theatre will allow the doctor Dr Yan. research only. addition to make better and more accurate clinical system, surgeons are able to perform less invasive, with its X-ray imaging system, will allow the heart to quickly convert from a catheter-based intervention Other sub-speciality group practices within the A spokesman for the National Cancer Institute, judgements so that our patients need not be put safer and more accurate procedures. surgeon to bypass the block using minimally to an open-heart bypass surgery if the need arises. hospital include those for neurosurgery, colorectal Singapore said it does not currently offer PET-MRI through potentially disfiguring surgery if there is no The same navigational system is integrated with invasive surgery. surgery, hand surgery, spine surgery and ear, nose scans to patients as there is no established clinical chance of cure,” she said. the operating microscope that neurosurgeons use It will also allow an interventional cardiologist to PROVIDING ADVANCED MEDICAL CARE indication for it. Conversely, it can also help doctors identify which for brain surgery. clear the other smaller blocks by inflating a balloon The investment in cutting-edge technology is in line and throat surgery. But the machine, which does a PET scan and patients are suitable for surgery if it shows the It also helps surgeons perform surgery on the attached to a catheter and deploying stents to prop with MNH chief executive Lee Hong Huei’s vision for MNH also provides facility services to doctors magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at the same cancer is in its early stage, she said. brain more smoothly, accurately and safely. the blood vessel open. the hospital to focus on advanced surgical and located nearby, such as Novena Medical Centre, time, was approved by the United States Food and In addition, the significant reduction in radiation MNH is the first private hospital here to have a “The patient would not have the increased risk of medical care. Novena Specialist Centre, Thomson Medical Centre Drug Administration last year, based on performance dose – between 25 and 50 per cent – to the patient purpose-built hybrid operating theatre, where both stroke due to being hooked up to a heart-lung Such care will be more expensive but it offers and Mount Alvernia Hospital, as long as they have tests that compared it with the existing positron is of great significance to those who need long-term open surgery and minimally invasive ones done machine in open heart surgery,” said Dr Peter Yan, patients more choices, he said.