Makati Medical Center (MMC), considered one of the country’s top hospitals, said on Thursday that it has kept its hospital fees regular and stays committed to doing so despite inflation and better fuel prices driven by the war within the Middle East.
“We’re aware that in the approaching months, on account of inflation and all of those issues, prices of delivery services will increase,” Arnold C. Ocampo, chief financial officer and interim co-president and chief executive officer (CEO) of MMC, said during an executive media session for the launch of MMC’s WellnessHub.
“But as much as possible, we’ve got kept our prices the identical,” he added.
Mr. Ocampo noted that MMC follows a periodic price increase schedule, where reviews and adjustments for its services occur every two to a few years.
Although some suppliers of medicines and medical supplies have raised prices for the reason that onset of the war, this was considered a part of a routine that predates the crisis involving inflation and fuel issues.
Nonetheless, MMC has been capable of keep prices regular, Mr. Ocampo said, noting the hospital’s purchasing power given the amount of supplies it purchases.
He added that some suppliers have also opted to maintain their prices unchanged.
“As much as possible, we check our services to see if we are able to still hold on. But when not, we implement price adjustments on our services as well, on a routine basis,” Mr. Ocampo told BusinessWorld.
Asked about reports from the Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines, Inc. (PHAPi) that a few of its member hospitals may raise certain hospital fees by not less than 5% on account of higher fuel costs, inflation, and the weakening peso, Mr. Ocampo said MMC, a member of PHAPi, was not amongst those implementing such increases.
“We didn’t make such announcements. So, as much as possible, we do try to maintain our guarantees,” he said.
Mr. Ocampo also said that MMC’s current pricing for its services has enough ‘leeway’ to be sure that price increases from suppliers aren’t immediately passed on to consumers.
To keep up this trend, he said MMC is specializing in increasing its “patient census” by encouraging more individuals to avail themselves of medical services, similar to the recently launched WellnessHub, the middle’s one-stop-shop wellness and preventive care facility.
Despite efforts to maintain hospital prices stable, Mr. Ocampo said there stays a possibility of a hike by year-end amid ongoing economic pressures.
“If this fuel crisis continues until the top of the 12 months, there could be some must implement price increases, hopefully toward the top of this 12 months,” he said.
If such adjustments occur, they’d typically range from 2% to three%, Mr. Ocampo said, citing historical increases. — Edg Adrian A. Eva