Private hospitals in Singapore will share patient health records on national platform from 2025
The National Electronic Health Record system was introduced in 2011 to serve as a centralised repository for essential health data such as diagnoses, medications, allergies and laboratory reports.
· CNA · JoinSINGAPORE: All nine private hospitals in Singapore will soon share health records of their patients on a national platform to ensure better continuity of care across healthcare providers, the Ministry of Health announced on Saturday (Nov 9).
The National Electronic Health Record (NEHR) system, which was introduced in 2011, serves as a centralised repository for essential health data such as diagnoses, medications, allergies and laboratory reports.
It reduces the need for patients to repeat their medical history to various healthcare providers, or undergo repeat tests.
A central database helps healthcare providers minimise errors, said Health Minister Ong Ye Kung on Saturday. Another benefit, he said, was that such data can be used for research, including training AI models to deliver predictive preventive care.
Public hospitals, which handle 90 per cent of acute hospital workload in Singapore, are already using NEHR, along with primary care providers such as polyclinics and general practitioner clinics on the Healthier SG initiative.
“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,” the ministry said.
Synapxe is the national health tech agency.
To safeguard patient data, healthcare providers contributing to or accessing NEHR must meet a “robust” set of cybersecurity and data security requirements, said MOH.
“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,” the ministry added.
MOH plans to introduce legislation to make it mandatory to contribute to NEHR.
The Health Information Bill is expected to be passed in parliament next year. “The (Bill) will also establish a framework to govern the safe collection, access, use and sharing of health information across the healthcare ecosystem,” MOH said.
Private hospital groups including Farrer Park Hospital and Raffles Medical said they are getting their systems ready to share data with NEHR.
IHH Healthcare Singapore, which manages hospitals such as Gleneagles, Mount Elizabeth and Parkway East hospitals, said it is on track to meet the technical and cybersecurity requirements to get onboard NEHR by 2025.
“We are committed to getting our extensive healthcare network ready for contribution to the NEHR and have embarked on our NEHR journey from as early as 2018,” said Mr Yong Yih Ming, chief operating officer of IHH Healthcare Singapore.
Thomson Medical’s CEO Lee Suen Ming said the healthcare group looks forward to playing a part through NEHR, adding that it has enhanced its own electronic medical record system since 2023.
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