Requiring Private Clinics and Hospitals to Routinely Update Patient Data on National Electronic Health Record System

Mr Yip Hon Weng asked the Minister for Health (a) whether the Ministry will consider requiring all private clinics and hospitals to routinely update patient records on the National Electronic Health Record (NEHR) system; (b) what are the key challenges that are hindering the mandatory submission of patient records by private clinics and hospitals into the system; and (c) whether there is a timeline or plan for the mandatory participation of private healthcare providers in the NEHR system to achieve the goal of a comprehensive integration of healthcare records.

As announced earlier, the Ministry of Health (MOH) plans to table the Health Information Bill to Parliament in the coming months, to mandate the contribution of key selected health information by licensed healthcare providers to the National Electronic Health Record (NEHR). If it passes, from end 2025, MOH will phase-in the requirement for licensed healthcare providers to start submitting to NEHR.

A perennial obstacle to mandate contribution to NEHR has been that private healthcare providers do not have NEHR-compatible IT system. MOH has rolled out the Early Contribution Incentive scheme since December 2022, which provides one-time funding support to licensees to defray the cost of upgrading and integrating their IT system with the NEHR.