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“ Smart hospitals should have an app to book appointments conveniently and telemedicine services so that those overseas can even have a preconsultation to understand whether the specialist they are planning to see fits their needs.”
Dr Timothy Low
Care @ Home( MIC @ Home).
This is a programme that allows some inpatients in public hospitals to be treated at home if their conditions are suitable for remote care. Hospital staff may provide patients with appropriate equipment, like blood pressure monitors, while training them in their use. Daily teleconsultations are arranged to ensure patients are compliant with treatment, while at-home check-ups can also be done if needed. This arrangement continues until patients fully recover and can be officially discharged, though doctors can also decide to re-admit them to the hospital if their health deteriorates.
“ We should not be trapped in the mindset of‘ building hospitals’ when thinking about capacity. There is potential to better anchor care outside of hospitals, and in the community,” Singapore Minister of Health Ong Ye Kung, told The Straits Times.“ Not all patients require high acuity care and constant monitoring in a hospital throughout their treatment course. Many need convalescent care and rehabilitation, with the assurance that additional medical help is readily available nearby.”
In another effort to break hospital walls and connect to the community, the country’ s Infocomm Media Development Authority( IMDA) started a collaboration with tech start-up Republic Power to deploy unmanned medical booths across the country for pre-screening and teleconsultation. The goal is to help clinics offer remote screening services in a way that reduces waiting times and takes services closer to where people live.
“ Such unmanned medical booths can be easily deployed and used for other medical purposes such as health and infectious disease screening for travellers and foreign workers at airports and dormitories etc,” according to an IMDA media release.
Singapore is also well positioned to facilitate interconnection in healthcare thanks to its National Electronic Health Record system, which already allows
Digitalisation will be key to improving healthcare access to all public, and some private, healthcare providers. This crucial infrastructure tool can improve continuity of care as it allows family physicians to review any updates on their patients’ tests and treatment in hospitals and clinics while facilitating clinical decisions.
“ Patients recently discharged from hospital will be able to continue seeing their family doctor, who will be abreast of changes in their health condition through the NEHR system. Some may even be discharged earlier: Instead of staying admitted to wait for improvements in blood test results- which can take days as organ functions take time to normalise— they can choose to go home and visit their family doctor for the blood test in a few days, who will then be able to review against in-hospital tests,” Dr Huan Weiting from the National Heart Centre Singapore, wrote in Channel News Asia.
Hospitals will be the high-tech hubs of the system In a diffused healthcare system, hospitals will have to digitalise their infrastructure to provide soft medical records that can be stored in a national repository and to connect to patients online so that some services can be provided remotely.
“ Smart hospitals should have an app to book appointments conveniently and telemedicine services so that those overseas can even have a preconsultation to understand whether the specialist they are planning to see fits their needs,” said Dr Timothy Low, a healthcare leadership expert who was on the board of Farrer Park Hospital in Singapore.
Such hospitals should also build a digital infrastructure that allows doctors to see patient medical records on their devices, including real-time diagnostic results, everywhere they are, he added. This would improve continuity of care because it would give medical staff the tools to make clinical decisions remotely.
More importantly, these digitalisation efforts will not only connect hospitals with the healthcare system and the community at large, but also promise to improve care or make it more efficient for those who do have to be hospitalised.
For instance, a sensor in the Smart Wards of Tan Tock Seng Hospital( TTSH) in Singapore, which in line with national efforts is working towards becoming a Hospital without Walls, can identify patients who are at risk of falling from beds and alert staff in time to improve the chances of preventing falls. Hospital beds also have a function to easily turn lying patients by simply pushing a button, thus reducing nurse work and preventing injuries in bed-ridden patients who have to change their position in bed several times a day. TTSH has also introduced a device that allows doctors and nurses to communicate quickly handsfree by just saying the name of the colleague to talk to.“ Traditionally, we have to pick up a phone, find the contact number of the doctors and then dial and
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