My life as a new mum is now easier with this digital health app

I remember the first time I stepped foot into a polyclinic just after giving birth with my newborn baby back then.

I was blurry eyed from sleepless nights and still had aches from giving birth.

Luckily, my recent visit to the polyclinic was quick and seamless - all thanks to the HealthHub mobile app.

Not only was I able to book an appointment in advance, but I was also able to whisk my baby home immediately after and settle the bill via the app digitally.

As a new mum, I cannot be more grateful for the digitalisation of healthcare services as this means that I do not have to calm a crying newborn in public while having to settle all the administration.

Refreshed HealthHub app

For the uninitiated, HealthHub is an initiative by the Ministry of Health, developed by Integrated Health Information Systems (IHiS) - the national HealthTech Agency.

HealthHub is a national platform for digital health that provides healthcare e-Services and evidence-based health information across the public healthcare for Singaporeans and residents.

With HealthHub, users can access personal or loved ones’ health records and perform various transactions across public healthcare clusters such as appointment booking, bill payment and medication refill.

Today, the HealthHub mobile app has been enhanced to offer users an even better experience.

As a past user myself, I can attest to this.

Some of these enhancements include:

• A new and cleaner dashboard
• Shortcuts to popular e-Services Quick Links
• Biometrics login via Quick Access function

I decided to put the refreshed app to the test on ​​my baby’s next visit to the doctor.

Here’s how my experience went.

Improved user experience with Quick Access

Upon opening the app, it was apparent that much had changed with the introduction of new mobile UI/UX enhancements.

For starters, I was prompted to enable Quick Access using Singpass and to set up my biometrics login.

The new biometrics function, known as Quick Access, enables users to access selected health information much faster by using fingerprint and face authentication or a six-digit passcode.

This was a game changer for me as I no longer needed to go through several steps to view my upcoming appointment and check my queue number.

It was especially useful when I was handling a fussy baby and needed the information in a jiffy.

Having said that, users can be rest assured that other sensitive functions still require further verification via the Singpass login.

Clean and improved dashboard with Quick Links

Old app:

Revamped app:

The next thing I noticed was that the refreshed app had gotten a massive face lift compared to its previous version.

The homepage was no longer cluttered, allowing users to easily find the information they need.

Now, the clean and improved dashboard and homepage allows for a better app experience and navigation.

For instance, popular and frequently used e-Services such as appointments, lab reports and payments can be found on the first page under Quick Links.

I also love that I could conveniently tap on “Home”, “Services” and “Health Profiles” at the bottom of the screen.

These were the e-Services that I needed to access quickly and efficiently, and having it on the homepage was a godsend.

All in all, the new homepage dashboard has better discoverability and delivers greater ease of use to users.

Booking an appointment

As I no longer had to scour the app for these functions, the process of booking an appointment for my baby was quick and easy.

All I had to do was tap on “Appointments”, log in to Singpass, and choose whether I wanted to make an appointment for myself or my baby.

I was also able to view my baby’s upcoming appointments on this page.

Following this, I booked an appointment with my preferred public healthcare institution, Sengkang Polyclinic.

Visiting the polyclinic

When the day of my baby’s appointment arrived, I made sure to complete the registration process on HealthHub 30 minutes before the appointment via mobile registration.

My baby was then allocated an e-Queue number and I was able to view the consultation details such as room number and location conveniently via the app using my biometrics login aka Quick Access.

This meant that I could head straight to the polyclinic and wait for the number to be called for my baby’s consultation.

I was also able to view how many people were ahead of me in the queue.

Since we made an appointment in advance, we did not have to wait long and before we knew it, my baby had finished her appointment and we were off to collect her medication.

Payment via the app

Now this might be my favourite feature of the app:

Once we had collected the medication, we were free to leave as I could complete payment via the app later in the comfort of my own home.

Gone were the days where I would have to wait for my turn to pay for my polyclinic visit.

Users are able to skip the counter queue and pay their medical bills via the app once the polyclinic has processed my visit.

Payment can be made by selected credit card, debit card or Direct Debit. In addition, payment records and history can be viewed easily on HealthHub.

Overall, I appreciate how seamless the payment process is via mobile.

Easier for caregivers to manage loved ones’ health

Overall, the various enhancements in the app have made a significant impact on my role as a mother and caregiver.

Browsing lab reports, booking appointments, making payment and more are now seamless.

This applies not only to my own health records but my loved ones’ as well.

Most importantly, with Health Profile, I can view and book appointments, make bill payments, view and keep track of lab test results and view the medication list of my little one.

I can also view my child’s immunisation records and easily keep track of her upcoming vaccinations.

Since it is one of the main tabs in the app’s homepage, one can access Health Profiles more easily now.

This means caregivers can conveniently manage the health profiles of loved ones such as elderly parents or children.

(Do note that you can only add and manage a loved ones’ health profile if they have granted you access to it.)

If you haven’t added the profiles of your loved ones yet, doing so is also easy via the app using Singpass.

As someone who cares for both my child and elderly parents while juggling work, things can get overwhelming, and it can be hard to keep track of everything.

Thankfully, HealthHub makes it easier to manage my personal as well as loved ones’ health records and appointments, all in one place.

All in all, I would highly recommend the refreshed HealthHub app to individuals who want to manage the health profiles of themselves and their loved ones with ease, including children and even elderly parents.

If you have yet to install the HealthHub app, you can download it on the App Store or Google Play today.

You can also follow HealthHub’s Telegram and TikTok channels for more health information and regular updates.

This sponsored article in collaboration with HealthHub made the writer an even bigger fan of the HealthHub app.

Top left image via Siti Hawa, right image via HealthHub.