In SingHealth, we pride ourselves in delivering quality, affordable and accessible care to patients. However, just as important is the kind of experience patients go through as they navigate the healthcare system.   What can we do to ensure that our patients enjoy convenience?   What would they perceive as a seamless patient experience?   Here are some initiatives we have taken to transform patient care and service.

Simplified assessment process for Medifund assistance
No more multiple assessments and trips with the One Medifund Assessment initiative.   One assessment for financial assistance is all it takes with a validity of six months across different SingHealth institutions.

Effective appointment scheduling
Gone are the days when it takes 45 minutes just to make a referral appointment for SingHealth polyclinics patients at another SingHealth institution.

The SingHealth Appointments Access Taskforce empowers staff to book appointments for certain specialties directly with other SingHealth institutions, instead of calling appointment hotlines. An internal mobile app – mdirectory – allows staff to check mobile numbers of their colleagues, instead of calling the General Enquiries hotline.

1 Queue 1 Bill
Patients can now navigate their way through various stops in NHCS with a personalised journey map.   The single queue ticket allows them to only queue once and pay for services with a consolidated bill for their consultation, tests and medications during the visit.

Improved access to medication
Patients treated across multiple SingHealth institutions may have issues getting medicine from different institutes.

The Availability and Accessibility to Medication Workgroup now stocks frequently requested medications at the SGH inpatient pharmacy.   Collection of medication is now done by porters instead of pharmacy staff.

In addition, patients discharged from SGH and the Specialist Outpatient Clinics can now collect the most frequently prescribed medications from a SingHealth polyclinic close to their home.

In the latest issue of AMP, we explore what it means to truly put patients first and how best we can structure ourselves to do that.