Reducing the pain of health-care costs

Hefty health-care costs have become a global concern, including in Singapore. Worldwide, countries struggle to contain them. Patients and families, too, are concerned. In Singapore, a lot of attention has been focused recently on the role of doctors in driving up health-care costs through their fees. While doctors certainly influence health-care costs, they are not solely, or even primarily, responsible for them.  
Other contributors include technology such as drugs, medical equipment, implants; consumables such as nappies, dressings or intravenous drips; professional fees given not just to doctors but also therapists, dieticians, nurses and to cover hospital administration, laboratory tests such as radiological investigations; and facility fees for use of hospital rooms and operating theaters.
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