MHC Asia Group-Established Brand
Harnessing technology helps MHC Asia Group make outpatient visits hassle-free.
“Our business model is one that is easily implemented since there is a pressing need for every country to have employers and insurance companies which requires third party administrators. Our system helps reduce administration in medical claim processing and aid employers in managing healthcare costs” Dr Low Lee Yong, founder and CEO of MHC Asia Group
By Joyce Lin
MHC Asia Group (MHC) is a medical and health technology company specializing in managed care, third party administration, workplace health programmes and health screening services.
In Singapore, the company manages a network of more than 1,000 clinics which are linked online to provide a platform for cashless outpatient visits. It has also built a similar network connecting 550 clinics in Malaysia and is expanding into Indonesia, Hong Kong and the Philippines.
The company was established in 1994 by its founder and chief executive officer Dr Low Lee Yong. As a general practitioner, he faced stiff competition from bigger players in the medical industry.
He noticed two trends- companies preferred to engage the services of large medical groups or clinic chains and patients seeking outpatient treatment needed receipts for reimbursement from their employers.
This sparked off a business idea and Dr Low persuaded 20 doctors to come together to start MHC Asia Group.
The group achieved economies of scale by combining resources to enjoy discounts when bulk-buying drugs. The savings were passed on to its patients.
A major driver of MHC’s success is making outpatient visits hassle-free and cashless. Even before the dot-com boom in 2000, the company was exploring alternatives such as fax-back and paging services and wide area dial-up network technology.
In 2000, Dr Low allocated funds to his company from the $2.4 million he raised to start a dot-com company. The dot-com set up was intended to build web-based solutions to empower the business.
His investment was a success and MHC became the first company in South-east Asia to make use of this system to successfully link a network of GP clinics to provide cashless outpatient visits.
Companies, major restructured hospitals and insurers here now use MHC’s web-based medical claim system to simplify medical claim processing and manage health-care costs. Linking health-care providers to the patient eliminates unnecessary paperwork and administrative work such as data entry.
Currently, the company processes over one million outpatient visits on behalf of its clients in Singapore every year and it also helps to track the employees’ medical leave clearance.
MHC seeks to help companies eliminate the hidden costs in healthcare. The cost savings are then channeled into preventive measures for the general wellbeing of employees.
Dr Low says: “our business model is one that is easily implemented since there is a pressing need for every country to have employers and insurance companies which require a third party administrator. Our system helps reduce administration in medical claim processing and aid employers in managing healthcare costs.”
His company is categorized as a small and medium enterprise (SME) but Dr Low is ready to do his bit for the needy. He believes that corporate social responsibilities (CSR) are not just for large multinationals.
“In winning this award, we hope to inspire other SMEs to do likewise. We have adopted Goducate as our CSR project and want to touch lives as part of a long-term goal.”
Goducate is a non-profit organization that aims to educate Asians to help them help themselves.
Dr Low says: “We don’t need to wait till we reach multinational status to start to give back to society.”
Source: 8 Dec 2011 Strait Times Singapore Prestige Brand Award Special Edition Page 16
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