The best executive health screening in Singapore, and how to choose

When a hospital package is the right answer

Raffles Hospital publishes the most complete package we found. Raffles Pinnacle costs S$12,685 for women and about S$12,560 for men, including GST [1]. It includes a gastroscopy and a colonoscopy, an MRI of the brain with scans of the arteries in the head and neck, a CT calcium score of the heart, a low dose CT of the lungs and a treadmill stress echo. It also includes a bone density scan and a dental scale and polish. A doctor examines you at the start and reviews the results with you at the end, and the report is emailed to you [1].

A hospital package suits someone who wants every test under one roof, with specialists in the same building if a result needs action. Ask how many visits the tests take and what preparation the endoscopy needs.

When a screening centre is the right answer

AsiaMedic, a screening centre in Orchard, publishes seven Navigator packages from about S$590 to S$4,600 and a Longevity Package at S$10,000, each including 9% GST [2]. The Longevity Package adds a low dose CT of the lungs, a CT angiogram of the heart, an MRI that measures brain volumes for early signs of dementia and a blood test that looks for fragments of cancer DNA [3].

A centre like this suits someone who wants a clear menu and a short day, and it lets you buy only the tests you need. Ask whether a doctor goes through your results in person, and who arranges a specialist if something is found.

What the national programme already covers

Singapore citizens can have the screening tests they are due for at a CHAS GP clinic for S$5 or less, through Healthier SG Screening. The fee covers screening for heart and stroke risk, cervical cancer and bowel cancer, and one follow-up consultation if it is needed [4]. Breast screening is offered at selected polyclinics, and permanent residents are asked to check the rates with their clinic [4].

Genetic tests sit apart from both. HealthHub states that in Singapore clinical genetic testing is regulated and can only be offered by doctors [5]. A kit sold to you directly is a wellness or ancestry product, and HealthHub warns that its results are not always reliable [5]. If a doctor recommends a genetic test because of your family history, it is ordered, explained and followed up as part of your care.

What the evidence says about screening people who feel well

Screening everyone for everything has not been shown to save lives. A Cochrane review pooled 17 randomised trials of general health checks, 15 of them with results for 251,891 people, and found little or no effect on deaths from any cause, from cancer or from heart disease [6]. The trials tested checks offered to whole populations, so they say less about a test chosen for a person with a known risk.

More tests also find disease that would never have caused harm. In Taiwan fewer than 5% of women smoke, and as low dose CT screening spread there between 2004 and 2018, early lung cancer in women rose from 2.3 to 14.4 per 100,000 while late stage cancer stayed level, from 18.7 to 19.3 per 100,000 [7]. The authors judged almost all of the extra cancers to be overdiagnosis, and advise keeping the scan to heavy smokers until trials show a benefit for others [7].

Some tests do earn their place for the right person. In a study of 6,722 adults from four ethnic groups, including Chinese Americans, a coronary calcium score above 300 carried almost ten times the risk of a coronary event of a score of zero [8]. The test is most useful when a doctor will act on the score. An HbA1c blood test is another, because among 11,092 adults without diabetes, those with a level from 6.0% to 6.5% had more than four times the later risk of diabetes of those between 5.0% and 5.5% [9].

Six questions to ask before you choose

These apply to any provider, including us.

• Which tests are in the package, and which of them suit my age and family history?
• Which tests use radiation, and how much?
• Who reads my scans, and how soon will I have the report?
• Will a doctor go through every result with me in person?
• If something is found, who arranges the next test and what does it cost?
• Which of these tests have I already had through Healthier SG Screening?

Appointments in Singapore

Our executive health screening in Singapore costs from S$14,000. Anyone can request an appointment in Singapore now.