Vlad Savin: Attila, you’ve been working for a long time in Asia – over 15 years, mostly Singapore and Vietnam. What are your goals at CarePlus and what are you looking to achieve?
Attila Vajda: I came from a finance background, working in the investment banking sector and under my deliverables I had to look into valuable businesses here in Vietnam to invest in. With this wealth of experience, I have decided to take a step forward and become an entrepreneur, and with a group of investors we have set up CarePlus, with a purpose to provide quality, affordable healthcare at international standards.
From all ventures started, CarePlus became the flagship investment, and we have been growing this business in Vietnam since 2016, when we opened our first clinic in Tan Binh District, Ho Chi Minh City.
Our main goal is to be able to provide high quality, affordable healthcare close to people’s work areas and homes, that’s why we aim to have a reachability of not more than 15 minutes drive from the middle-class Vietnamese neighborhoods. From an identity vantage point, we want to become the most trusted Vietnamese healthcare brand (as we believe that trust is the foundation of the healthcare system) and we seek to achieve this by providing a consistent service, catered for and in reach of our Vietnamese customers.
Vlad Savin: What is CarePlus’s value add, how does it stand out from the norm and how have you positioned the company in the Vietnamese market?
Attila Vajda: We have four pillars we are building within our identity. The first is quality healthcare, referring to an international standard medical outcome which is provided to the patients. The second pillar is a great patient experience, and that’s where we want to differentiate ourselves, with a comfortable environment, where people are treated with utmost respect and care, not just quality medical service. Number three, the reachability factor – the proximity to our client’s homes, work places, availability of the telemedicine online functions which offer a high level of flexibility and comfort to our patients and their families. The last pillar is focused on affordability and accessibility, whether it’s insurance network, online payment convenience, telemedicine and so on, to balance our guest’s experience and value add.
Many healthcare providers manage to identify themselves with some of these core value pillars, where maybe the medical outcome is good but the patient experience lacks, or the outcome is questionable nevertheless the affordability is high. We try to consistently deliver on all these 4 pillars and always maintain our culture of affordability as well.
That’s actually one of the prime problems of the healthcare system in Vietnam. Many private players provide high quality service at international standards, but it is very difficult to maintain an affordable offering to the Vietnamese people, matching their income level as well, not just their quality expectations.
Vlad Savin: What are the most important traits an entrepreneur should have, and how do they apply in your industry?
Attila Vajda: Consistency and grit, especially in healthcare, I believe are important traits for an entrepreneur. I think most successful entrepreneurs are the ones taking simple ideas and executing them in a well structured form. Consistency in pursuing your goals and your vision is the most important especially in healthcare, which is considered a long run game, where you always need to have the same high quality service and medical outcome for each of the patients you serve, day by day, year by year. Only with this level of commitment you can build and maintain a culture of trust in your brand.
Vlad Savin: You have recently opened a third clinic in Ho Chi Minh City, how was the process for you and why have you decided on this path?
Attila Vajda: As mentioned, one of our goals is to be close to our patient’s homes and workspaces. With our 3 clinics, we are essentially 15 to 30 minutes away from anyone that lives in Ho Chi Minh City. That is why we have decided to open the District 1 clinic, responding as well to the demand from our customers, to be present in the central business district area but also to cover the central axis of the city. We will continue to build more clinics, where the next step would be to be only 15 minutes away from our patients anywhere in the city, thus we have a conscious plan to be close to our customers.
Vlad Savin: What are your views on the medical sector in Vietnam, looking at maturity, potential, growth and how does it compare with Singapore and other regions?
Attila Vajda: The industry in Vietnam is dominated by the government healthcare sector, hence at the private side, the industry is still at the initial stage of development. Look at CarePlus, we are one of the largest clinic chains in the city, but in terms of number of patients out of total population, we are significantly underrepresented compared with more developed countries in the region. Especially clinic chains are not prevalent in Vietnam compared with the region, and we foresee sustained growth in the next 10 to 20 years in the private sector healthcare system – you could say that we are just scratching the surface.
As the population is ageing, as it becomes more educated and informed about healthcare, expectations become more complex and on this basis the sector is bound for a sustained growth rate. That is why many foreign investors are looking to tap into the market and take part of its potential. This market movement and excitement at the investor level translates into benefits for the customers, more diversification in their choices and better overall service levels.
Vlad Savin: How confident are you in the future of Vietnam on a scale of 1 to 10? And why?
Attila Vajda: I would say 8. I am very confident in Vietnam’s future, I’ve been here already for over 12 years, people are very determined, innovative, and capable to take advantage from various opportunities – represented by international trade agreements, international investments and country focused business development programs. My only concern is that as the country grows and develops, it is getting more difficult to become an entrepreneur because the ticket size to enter the game is becoming bigger and bigger. 5 to 10 years from now the higher costs and the rising capital requirements needed to start a business will become a large differentiator on who will become entrepreneur. This will benefit large investors who will still be able to enter the market and take risks, but on the expense of many of the small entrepreneurs who may not be able to afford to start a business venture at a smaller scale. Thus this vibrant entrepreneurial economy may be less colourful & dynamic over time.