The government of Singapore has unveiled a new program aimed at helping general practitioners (GPs) in the island-state manage patient records and related information via a common IT system.
Some S$15 million (US$9.4 million) will be invested over four years into the program, says the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA), the country’s infocomm regulator. At present, many solo medical practitioners and small GP groups work on different systems to process different processes. From Oct. 1, GPs from 1,400 clinics in the country will be able to update and retrieve their patients’ health records through integrated clinic management systems. They can also perform other related functions, such as managing billing charges and patients’ insurance claims. IDA added that the centralized system would in future facilitate GPs to submit mandatory information, including infectious disease reports and alerts, to the country’s Ministry of Health (MOH).
