In the next five to 10 years, many of the services that can be offered in a hospital could be delivered in the comfort of one’s home.
Telehealth will become more sophisticated, artificial intelligence (AI) will help to improve care as well as relieve a bigger part of doctors’ and nurses’ workloads, and patient care will be more precise.
Soon, people will be nudged – through an app or a wearable device – to move more, eat less or sleep well as part of their care plan, as Singapore helps residents take charge of their health under the newly launched Healthier SG strategy.
Behind the scenes, national healthcare technology agency Synapxe – previously known as Integrated Health Information Systems (IHiS) – is working hard at making these scenarios a reality sooner rather than later, its chief executive officer, Ms Ngiam Siew Ying, said in an interview to mark the launch of the agency’s new identity on Thursday.
Synapxe supports the operations of 46 public healthcare institutions, including acute hospitals, speciality centres and polyclinics, as well as some 1,400 partners such as community hospitals, nursing homes and general practitioners.
She said the new name reflects the growth of the agency’s work in scope and scale in shaping the future of health tech in Singapore to power key programmes such as Healthier SG.
The Straits Times
