ALL PRIVATE HOSPITALS COMMIT TO ENHANCING HEALTH DATA SHARING FOR MORE SEAMLESS CARE DELIVERY

All nine private hospitals in Singapore have committed to contributing health information of their patients to the National Electronic Health Record (NEHR). This will enable healthcare data sharing across Singapore’s public and private healthcare sectors, to facilitate better continuity of care for patients.

 2.             Established in 2011, the NEHR serves as a centralised system for essential health data, such as diagnoses, medications, allergies, and radiological and laboratory reports. This allows healthcare providers to have access to a common set of patients’ key health information, facilitating more integrated and more seamless care for their patients. It benefits patients by reducing the need for them to repeat their medical history to various healthcare providers, or undergo repeat tests.

3.             Today, primary care providers such as polyclinics and private GP clinics on Healthier SG are using NEHR. They account for almost 70% of the primary care sector. Public hospitals, which handle 90% of acute hospital workload in Singapore, are also using NEHR.

4.             All private hospitals have now also fully committed to work with the Ministry of Health (MOH) and Synapxe to ensure that their hospital management systems are ready to be integrated with NEHR and contribute health information in 2025.

5.             To safeguard patient data, healthcare providers contributing to or accessing NEHR must meet a robust set of cybersecurity and data security requirements. This includes measures to protect health information through frequent and timely updates of systems and software, equipping staff with cyber-hygiene practices, as well as mandatory reporting of cybersecurity incidents and data breaches.

6.             MOH plans to mandate nationwide contribution to the NEHR through the Health Information Bill (HIB). The HIB will help realise the full benefit of a centralised data system and is intended to be passed in Parliament next year. The HIB will also establish a framework to govern the safe collection, access, use and sharing of health information across the healthcare ecosystem.

7.             MOH will continue to work towards delivering person-centred care through secure and improved data flows across healthcare providers.