All private hospitals in S'pore to share patients' health records on national centralised system from 2025

All nine private hospitals in Singapore have committed to contributing their patients' health information to the National Electronic Health Record (NEHR).

This move will help to enhance data sharing across Singapore's public and private healthcare sectors and "facilitate better continuity of care for patients".

According to a Ministry of Health (MOH) press release, all private hospitals are fully committed to ensuring their hospital management systems are ready to integrate with NEHR and contribute health information in 2025.

Centralised data system

NEHR was established in 2011 and is a centralised system for essential health data, such as diagnoses, medications, allergies, and radiological and laboratory reports.

The system allows healthcare providers to access a common set of patients' essential health information.

With this, patients need not repeat their medical history to various healthcare providers or undergo repeat tests.

Currently, polyclinics, private GP clinics, and public hospitals are already using the NEHR.

MOH plans to mandate nationwide contributions to the NEHR through the Health Information Bill, which is intended to pass in Parliament in 2025.

It will "help realise the full benefit of a centralised data system" and "establish a framework to ensure the safe collection, access, use, and sharing of health information across the healthcare ecosystem", MOH shared.

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