Speech by Dr Amy Khor, Senior Minister of State for Health, at the Opening Ceremony of the Singapore Healthcare Management Congress 2014, 19 August 2014

Professor Ivy Ng, Group CEO of SingHealth,

Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen

Good Morning

Introduction

1          It is my pleasure to join you this morning at the opening ceremony of the Singapore Healthcare Management Congress 2014.

2          As healthcare practitioners and administrators, our commitment to the needs of our patients will always remain our number one priority. However, today’s Congress is not about patients, but about you, our healthcare administrators.

The role of healthcare administrators in delivery of care

3          Administrators play an integral role in healthcare delivery as they work together with clinical teams to ensure smooth operations and seamless, integrated care for patients. Today, an estimated 7,000 people serve in public healthcare as administrators. This number will grow as we expand our healthcare capacity to meet the growing needs of the population.

4          In addition to boosting the number of healthcare personnel, it is important that we continue to invest in training and offer professional development opportunities. Events such as the Singapore Healthcare Management Congress are excellent platforms for learning and sharing of ideas as we strive to increase efficiency in patient care delivery.

5          Now in its fourth year, the Singapore Healthcare Management Congress has established itself as the leading platform in the region for healthcare administrators to share best practices and exchange ideas in essential healthcare fields such as operations, human resource, service quality, finance, communications, supply chain management and risk management. These are important functions which support our healthcare staff so that they can deliver quality, seamless care to our patients in a timely, safe and efficient manner. I am heartened to see that SingHealth, the largest Academic Medical Centre in Singapore, has taken the lead to organise an event like this to build the professional capacity of healthcare administrators.

6          Now, more than ever, technology and innovation are transforming care delivery. As we move towards providing patient centric care, delivered across care settings, the safe and effective transfer of healthcare information is critical. The National Electronic Health Record (NEHR) integrates and shares medical records nationwide. Offering a holistic and longitudinal view of a patient’s records across different healthcare settings, the NEHR provides a summary of the patient’s medical history to support clinical decision making. Since 2011, the NEHR has been progressively rolled out to over 280 institutions across the healthcare sector, providing over 14,000 clinicians with the information they need to support the seamless delivery of patient care.

7          For the first time, electronic information exchange has moved beyond the boundaries of the acute public healthcare institutions and polyclinic network into the private primary care and ILTC sectors. The NEHR is now being used in all 5 community hospitals, 18 nursing homes, 4 hospices, 5 community-based care providers and over 230 private GP clinics. Clinicians in these sectors, who were previously isolated in terms of information exchange can now be connected, improving the quality of care for all. We are thus a step closer towards achieving the vision of “One Patient, One Health Record” for Singapore. We encourage partners of the regional health systems to use the NEHR for the greater benefit of our patients.

A platform for healthcare administrators to learn and collaborate

8          I am also happy to learn that this year, the Congress has attracted distinguished speakers from Australia, Singapore, South Korea, the UK, and the US to share their wealth of experience in areas such as healthcare management, supply chain management, and enterprise risk management. Their diverse backgrounds provide us the opportunity to learn valuable lessons. This will provide fresh perspectives that we can adapt and apply to relevant practices in healthcare.

9          I look forward to the keynote address by Mr William Burton from the Duke University Healthcare System, who will share his insights on the topic “Journey to Excellence, Roadmap for Success”, distilled from his 20 years at the helm of the Performance Services Office at Duke University Health System.

10        I understand that this Congress started from humble beginnings. When SingHealth first held the poster competition in 2012, it received just 10 entries on supply chain and procurement. In 2013, it accepted entries from more specialties – human resource, IT, finance and communications – and received 137 posters. This year, a record 214 posters were submitted – and this is proof that there is no lack of innovative ideas in our midst. The healthy response also means that there is great potential for improvement in our processes and workflow. I hope innovative projects like these will inspire you to propagate similar successes at your respective organisations.

11        We need to find ways to do more given our finite resources. Innovation and productivity in healthcare will continue to be a key driving force in our quest to balance health care quality with cost containment.  To facilitate sharing of innovative practices in our collective effort to enhance the efficiency of healthcare delivery, the Ministry of Health and the Agency for Integrated Care will be organising a Healthcare Productivity Seminar on 9 October 2014.

Conclusion

12        We have made progress over the years to advance the quality of care for our patients. This can’t be done in silos. We have to rely on the synergies and partnerships between all our healthcare professionals to bring about the best care for our patients. As you interact and learn from eminent speakers and fellow participants, I urge you to start conversations with like-minded partners, to explore how you can leverage collective strengths and spark innovative ideas.

13        Thank you and I wish you all a fruitful learning experience.