Keynote Address by Mr Gan Kim Yong, Minister for Health, at the Opening Ceremony of Healthcare Information Systems Society (HIMSS) AsiaPac15 - Digital Healthcare Week, 7 Sep 2015

Colleagues, Distinguished speakers and guests,

Ladies and gentlemen,

Good morning.

Introduction

1.    I am delighted to join you this morning to open the third HIMSS AsiaPac15 – Digital Healthcare Week. Information Technology is one of the key enablers facilitating the transformation of healthcare. In last year’s forum, I shared how Singapore will empower the population to better manage their health, and how our Health IT Master Plan (HITMAP) helps to integrate information across care providers to future-proof our healthcare system.

2.    Today I would like to share some of my thoughts on how our care delivery can be enhanced by building on the Health IT Master Plan to help us to better meet the needs of an ageing population given the constraints of our labour market.

Moving Towards Smart Health

3.    In Singapore, we are aspiring to become a Smart Nation and Smart Health is an important element of our agenda. We seek to identify opportunities for effective use of information technology to deliver beneficial citizen centric healthcare services. Our focus is on ideas and solutions which will address the needs for both our people and our care providers.

4.    Specifically, these solutions should make healthcare more proactive for our people. It should guide people to take pre-emptive steps to keep themselves healthy or better manage their conditions. Smart Health solutions should also be integrated, that is, public and private providers should be connected to provide seamless care for our people at all stages of their lives. Importantly, healthcare services delivered ought to be personalised, enabling targeted education and intervention for better health outcomes for our people. Last but not the least, Smart Health aims to empower our people to make informed choices about their health so that they can assume a greater responsibility in managing their own health and well-being.

Fostering Closer Public and Private Collaboration

5.    As a nation we are constantly striving to keep healthcare accessible, affordable, and of good quality. This national effort is incomplete without the team work of all our healthcare providers. There will be greater collaboration and IT will be a key enabler for such collaboration amongst various providers.

6.    With information sharing a more complete and updated health record of a patient can be made available to healthcare professionals across various healthcare institutions to ensure the continuity of care, enhance the accuracy of clinical decisions, and ultimately facilitate better care outcomes. Since the implementation of our National Electronic Health Record (NEHR) system in 2011, it has been successfully rolled out in over 796 institutions across the healthcare sector and provided over 18571 users access to cross cluster records promoting better continuity of care. All these developments have taken us closer to our aim of “One Patient, One Health Record” for the country.

7.    Many devices in the healthcare market have been launched recently. This has encourage not only individuals to better monitor and manage their health, but has also enabled healthcare providers to leverage such technologies to deliver care in the comforts of patients’ homes. Take for example the Telecare Programme. Under this programme, patients with stable diabetes mellitus, hypertension or lipid disorders can monitor their blood pressure at home on a regular basis. Patients submit their readings through an online portal, which is reviewed by a nurse before a tele-consultation session is arranged with the patient’s care manager.

8.    There is now greater willingness of the population to manage their health through various avenues. This opens the door for healthcare IT industry players to consider the use of behavioural science, public outreach, and social marketing to nudge people to take greater responsibility and ownership of their health outcomes. As the population becomes healthier, it can then reduce the incidence of chronic diseases and consequently the need for healthcare services downstream. As the demand for better products grow, the health IT industry players will also have to continuously improve their products and solutions to serve the healthcare needs for both consumers and providers.

Singapore’s Progress in Health IT

9.    In Singapore, seven hospitals have become the first public institutions in Asia Pacific to achieve the HIMSS Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model (EMRAM) Stage 6, an international benchmark for the use of advanced technology to improve patient care.

10. Forging ahead, with Singapore’s Healthcare IT initiatives, future capabilities that are currently being developed, and participation from all sectors, we will realise our vision of a fully integrated healthcare system and an empowered population in a Smart Nation.

11. Across the region, healthcare practitioners are at varying stages of development and technological implementation, it is through sharing of experiences and learning from peers that we can all achieve better health outcomes. The participation of Asia Pacific’s major institutions, both public and private, from over 30 countries at HIMSS AsiaPac15 reflects the commitment by these institutions to use technologies to benefit their healthcare professionals and their patients.

Conclusion

12. I hope that you will gain invaluable insights at this conference and return with interesting ideas, greater motivation, and new partners to help advance the standard of healthcare throughout your organisations, throughout Singapore, throughout Asia Pacific and beyond. I wish you a fruitful conference, and, for our foreign delegates, to have an enjoyable and memorable stay here in Singapore.

13. Thank you.