ADVANCED HEALTH: Advancing the Day Hospital Revolution in South Africa

Listed on the JSE in 2014, AHSA establishes, invests in, and manages day hospitals in South Africa and now plays a fundamental role in its day surgery industry, having positioned itself within an existing healthcare system and supremely filled a key gap in the market. “Our facilities are modern, compact, and equipped to render same-day surgical procedures efficiently, with a strong focus on the quality of surgical outcomes at extremely competitive rates for patients and medical schemes.”

Its establishment coincided with the revival of the Day Hospital Association in its current form, which sparked a large-scale promotion and vaunting of day hospitals and their benefits in South Africa. Increasingly in South Africa, medical schemes are now switching to align themselves far more to the day hospital model, AHSA points out, “and we are gradually seeing traction in them directing surgical procedures towards day hospitals as an alternative, more cost-effective option.

“More medical aids are channelling patients towards day surgery due to the cost effectiveness.”

A MEDICAL REVOLUTION 

Globally, day surgery hospitals have changed the face of the patient medical experience by offering an alternative to acute or previously conventional hospital surgery, and almost nowhere is this truer than in South Africa where the concept of is gaining huge popularity as mounting hospital costs drive a rethink. It offers the ideal novel setting for short-stay surgical procedures in acute facilities, and the peace of mind it has afforded both patients and doctors has proved invaluable in pandemic conditions.

Day surgery has gained significant traction internationally for its well-known improvements in anaesthesia, with a quicker recovery period, and pain control, as well as instrumentation and procedures such as keyhole surgery. These hospitals are, additionally, backed by reputations of running specialised facilities employing both state-of-the-art equipment and high-end, skilled professionals who, in environments more conducive to shorter and less invasive working hours, can make a profound and lasting difference.

“The Advanced philosophy is in line with the current changes in the healthcare industry,” AHSA reiterates, with the benefits clearly wide-reaching and numerous, “where the move to compact and custom-designed short-procedure facilities is being accelerated by surgical technology and modern anaesthesiologic techniques in both South Africa and Australia.

“Day hospitals across the world are transforming the surgical experience for millions of patients by providing them with a more convenient alternative to hospital-based surgery,” AHSA states, “achieving the highest quality standards and positive patient experiences cost-effectively.”

In essence, day hospitals are modern healthcare facilities performing surgical services and diagnostic procedures in a sterile environment. More than 60% of these interventions can be performed on a same-day basis, as a result of advanced surgical and anaesthetic technologies. Often cited as a major factor preventing even more widespread use of day hospitals is geographical access, but AHSA expertly circumvents such concerns with nine facilities located in Durbanville, eMalahleni, Groenkloof (Pretoria), East Rand, Knysna, Roodepoort, Panorama, Worcester, and Simon’s Town.

A total of 24 theatres, more than 200 licensed beds and in excess of 300 specialist doctors comprise a formidable whole, and make AHSA the day hospital provider with a difference. “You and your loved ones want the best care, at the best facility, at the right time,” AHSA condenses. “Advanced Health is the leader in the industry in South Africa with nine specialist day hospitals throughout our beautiful country.

“We are proud of our achievements and we shall build on them to grow as a healthcare group that utilises relevant and cost-effective technology to enrich the lives and add value to the needs of our patients, medical practitioners and personnel.”

THE HOSPITALS OF CHOICE

The archaic funding structure in South Africa has traditionally favoured general or acute hospitals. As a result of their cost-effectiveness, day hospitals are now widely and vociferously advocated for short-procedure surgery by medical schemes with not a hint of detriment to quality and safety. “It is difficult, if not impossible, for patients to get a similar cost advantage from a hospital,” AHSA adds, “even when quality and standards of care are equal.” 

Procedures performed in day hospitals are broad in scope and span knee, shoulder, elbow, hand, eye, skin, spine, cosmetic, gynaecological, urological, ear nose and throat, as well as dental and general surgery. Leading dermatologist and skin cancer expert Dr Johann de Wet has broadened this remit even further, opening the first dedicated Mohs Micrographic Surgery unit in the Cape Winelands area, at the Advanced Vergelegen Surgical Centre in Somerset West.

Mohs surgery is a precise surgical technique with a near 100% cure rate and is considered the gold standard when treating specific forms of skin cancer. Dr De Wet cautions that there is an epidemic of skin cancer in the world, and South Africa is no exception where it is the most common cancer type. Although Mohs Surgery is well established in other parts of the world, South Africans have only very recently been able to benefit from this specialised treatment.

“During Mohs surgery,” Dr De Wet explains, “thin layers of cancer-containing skin are removed in stages and microscopically examined until only cancer-free tissue remains. The goal of Mohs surgery is to remove the skin cancer, while causing minimal damage to surrounding healthy tissue, leading to smaller defects, and maximising the functional and cosmetic outcome that results from surgery.”

Proven to provide the highest cure rates when treating skin cancer. Mohs surgery is, too, the most cost-effective and associated with the best cosmetic outcomes and covered by most medical aids.

“Advanced has got the potential to grow the treatment of patients cost effectively in an environment where costs are predicted to escalate,” pronounced Chairman Carl Grillenberger, at the release of AHSA’s annual report for 2021. It made for extremely pleasing reading, with revenue showing growth of 43% on 2020 to reach R680.7 million, and EBITDA rocketing from R54.5 million to R162.6 million in the period. Cash generated from operations was up 44%, meanwhile, to R111.8 million from 2020’s R77.6 million.

It spoke of the success AHSA has witnessed based on its failsafe formula of quality, cost-effectiveness and innovation, and Grillenberger recognised that the prevailing moods augur extremely well for its continued prosperity. “The funders of our healthcare systems have identified day hospitals as a safe and cost-effective environment for the treatment of their members,” he closed.

“Over the past few years, the day surgery industry has experienced substantial growth locally as well as internationally and is tipped as a growth industry for the future. The quality of our services as well as the care of our patients still remains our primary objective, and we have succeeded in entrenching our organisation as a cost-effective provider of same day surgery.”