Covid-19 has completely transformed Singapore's health care system
The pandemic has made the use of telemedicine, remote consultation and monitoring a standard practice, as well as the incorporation of pandemic-resilient design into nursing homes and senior care centres Channel News Asia reported.
Covid-19 has completely transformed Singapore's health care system
2T2C: Talent, Technology, Capital, Cognition

COVID-19 has completely transformed Singapore's health care system

Photo: AFP/Roslan Rahman
Eurasia 13/06/2023 06:00

The pandemic has made the use of telemedicine, remote consultation and monitoring a standard practice, as well as the incorporation of pandemic-resilient design into nursing homes and senior care centres, Channel News Asia reported.

COVID-19 may have brought about unexpected and unprecedented challenges to Singapore, but it also accelerated the nation’s digital transformation efforts. Some of the changes have become standard practice, such as the use of telemedicine and remote consultation and monitoring, according to Channel News Asia.

The list of benefits offered by telemedicine is long. Firstly, patients can consult doctors and receive prescriptions at their convenience and preferred timings. Moreover, consultations without physical interaction reduce the risk of infection and transmission. Telemedicine also helps to free up health capacity, the news site added. 

"Telehealth will continue to be a mainstay feature in Singapore’s healthcare landscape offering greater convenience, improved accessibility to care, as well as time and cost savings for both providers and patients", Alan Goh, Assistan Chief Executive of Integrated Health Information System told CNA.
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The pandemic has also made the use of telepresence robot in nursing homes more popular. These systems are helpful in several ways. They can facilitate video calls between residents and their loved ones, and allow volunteers to interact with residents without being physically present. The robots’ ability to roam across wards have also boosted inter-floor and inter-room engagement. Additionally, with their night vision capability, the robots are able to perform night sentry duty and assist in the monitoring of residents.

Pandemic-resilient design that can facilitate split-zone operations has also become an important consideration for new nursing homes and senior care centres, CNA noted. This includes the design of flexible spaces that can be easily converted for different uses.

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