Update on Telepharmacy Project

Mr Seah Kian Peng asked the Minister for Health what is the outcome of the telepharmacy project first piloted in 1997 and whether such services, including that of allowing medical consultations by video, can help to lower costs and improve convenience to the public.

Telepharmacy can improve productivity and convenience for customers. It is regulated by the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) to ensure that providers put in place the necessary controls and safeguards.

Since the first pilot in 1997, the Ministry of Health (MOH) and HSA have expanded the scope of telepharmacy services. For example, pharmacies were allowed in 2009 to provide prescription-only medicines through telepharmacy. Previously, this was only allowed for non-prescription medicines.

To date, 146 retail pharmacy outlets are offering telepharmacy services. These include outlets at the three largest retail pharmacy chains, namely, Guardian Pharmacy, Unity Pharmacy and Watsons.

In April 2017, MOH launched a Smart Health Video Consultation platform to enable our public healthcare institutions to provide different services through video consultation. These include a new model of telepharmacy service at KK Women's and Children's Hospital and Tan Tock Seng Hospital.

HSA will continue to review the regulations for telepharmacy services to keep up with technological changes and provide better service to patients. We also welcome opportunities to collaborate with care providers and retail pharmacies to co-create new solutions in this area.