Using technology, training to transform healthcare delivery

SPIRALLING healthcare costs and a rapidly ageing population in Singapore have triggered the need for the government to find avenues to manage these issues.

Since 2009, much emphasis has been placed by the government on developing the medical technology and digital health areas.

The increase in demand for relevant and accurate health information as well as advances in medical technology (medtech) and infocommunications have fuelled the rise of digital health.

According to the Singapore Economic Development Board's (EDB) corporate investment arm, EDBI, some two-thirds of its investments in the biomedical sciences industry have been ploughed into medtech and digital health since 2009, with the latter being a smaller component.

EDBI had said previously that more investments will be made this year in terms of digital health, specifically in hospital workflow, health mobility and health analytics.

The idea is to improve hospital operation workflow by developing the nursing operations and employing health analytics. For these to work, healthcare professionals must also be able to monitor patients' mobility. Investments into these areas will undoubtedly improve patient care and in turn raise customer satisfaction.

At the start of the month, the Institute of Service Excellence (ISES) at the Singapore Management University (SMU) said the healthcare sector's fourth-quarter 2014 score helped lift Singapore's overall customer satisfaction levels.

The Customer Satisfaction Index of Singapore (CSISG) showed that the healthcare index climbed 1.6 per cent to 71 points year-on-year in Q4, lifted by ratings in polyclinics. This sub-sector had the biggest improvement of 4.6 per cent to 68.9 points. Trailing behind in terms of the rate of improvement were specialised healthcare, general practitioners, restructured hospitals and private hospitals.

Within the polyclinics sub-sector, SingHealth polyclinics saw a 5.4 per cent improvement in customer satisfaction to 70.2 points - the highest in eight years since the index started.

On the part of the National Healthcare Group Polyclinics (NHGP), tweaks to its processes to improve patient experience also paid off. Its index rose 4.1 per cent to 68.3 points in 2014.

Both groups said they have implemented measures to make visiting doctors a breeze. These include providing queue information via the website, encouraging patients to make appointments online or through the call centre.

Luna Lee, chief operating officer of SingHealth Polyclinics, said: "Patients who walk in will be given an estimated time slot to be seen within the same day upon registration. The estimated time to be seen depends on the availability of slots and the urgency of their condition. This allows them the flexibility of leaving the premises to run errands and make better use of their time rather than wait in the clinic."

Both groups also set up self-service kiosks to help patients save more time.

Said Peter Chow, NHGP's COO: "We also encourage patients to take advantage of the self-payment kiosks to reduce payment wait time. In the near future, we will be enhancing these to accept cash and credit card payment to further convenience patients. We also constantly upgrade our facilities to ensure a conducive environment and increase service points where necessary."

With three in 10 patients aged 65 and above, Ms Lee said the polyclinics have also upgraded their facilities to make them more elder-friendly.

The strength of the staff also underpins the kind of care the patients experience. To this end, NHGP and SingHealth regularly send their staff for training to equip them with better skills and knowledge.

Looking ahead, healthcare observers noted that Singapore will be the test bed for new healthcare technology in the region and this would transform healthcare delivery here.