Oncology Specialization in Indonesia: Siloam MRCCC

Towering over Jakarta’s Central Business District lies the fourth tallest hospital in Asia, and a contender for the best private hospital in Indonesia. Founded in 2011 with 36 floors and 300 beds, Siloam Mochtar Riady Comprehensive Cancer Center (MRCCC) employs 40% of Indonesia’s oncologists, puts 80 patients per day through their linear accelerator, and sees as many as 12,000 patients per month.

Today, we met with the CEO and toured the hospital with the Head of Business Development, Head of Ancillary services, and Head of Customer Experience, learning a bit more about a specialty private hospital operating in Southeast Asia.

The hospital
Siloam MRCCC is the only hospital in Indonesia providing world class oncology services for late stage cancer. It is also the only private, Type A hospital in Indonesia (see earlier Siloam post for more information on hospital types). Classification as Type A requires that the facility be a teaching hospital; however, Siloam MRCCC has been exempted from that requirement by virtue of its oncology specialization. While many government and private hospitals across the country offer chemotherapy services, Siloam MRCCC offers one of the three high-tech linear accelerators, and the only Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT) machine in the country. When asked about other competitors, those we spoke with responded, “sadly, there aren’t really any.”

The patients
While a private hospital that caters mostly to the middle and upper class, Siloam MRCCC serves 20-30% BPJS patients (national healthcare, see earlier Siloam post for more information on BPJS), and turns no BPJS patients away. While you may have a room to yourself or shared with one other as a private-pay patient, depending on class level (Class I-Class III designated by your financial contribution to BPJS), BPJS patients will share a room with three to six other patients. However, these BPJS patients do have the option to “upgrade” to VIP services for an additional 75% beyond the BPJS payment and receive the same types of chemotherapy treatments as any private-pay patient.

While the prevailing mindset among Indonesians heralds Singaporean and Malaysian healthcare as superior to indigenous offerings, we witnessed firsthand the nexus of a change in that perspective. We spoke with a patient from India who had lived in Jakarta for the past 27 years, who previously went to Singapore for care. However, she and her husband found cancer care at Siloam MRCCC not only comparable clinically, but also providing a superior patient experience with larger rooms and without requiring an international trip. According to sources at the hospital close to the Singaporean medical tourism board, the number of Indonesian patients has been declining in Singapore.

Siloam MRCCC is a world-class hospital with fantastic service and quality care for patients-from those from a low-income background who are covered under BPJS to wealthier private-payers, and serves as a model of what other Indonesian hospitals strive toward.