Singapore’s health tech and defence tech agencies partner on interoperable health records

By Si Ying Thian

Synapxe and DSTA will integrate the NGEMR and SAF medical systems, allowing SAF doctors to directly access service personnel’s health records, avoid duplication of tests and lower overall medical cost.

By 2028, all Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) medical facilities would have direct access to service personnel’s medical records, instead of waiting for hospitals to issue separate reports. Image: Synapxe; DSTA

By 2028, all Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) medical facilities would have direct access to service personnel’s medical records, instead of waiting for hospitals to issue separate reports.

National health tech agency Synapxe and the Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA) signed an agreement on October 24 to integrate the SAF medical systems and the Next Generation Electronic Medical Record System (NGEMR) to facilitate this.

Prior to this integration, SAF medical professionals often face issues like delayed referrals and duplicated tests, which increase medical cost.

*(From left to right) BG Lee Wei Ting, Chief of Medical Corps, MINDEF, Ng Chad-Son, Chief Executive, DSTA and Foo Hee Jug, Chief Executive, Synapxe. Image: Synapxe and DSTA*

Once both systems are integrated, SAF medical professionals would have access to the service personnel’s laboratory results, imaging reports and clinicians’ notes from various healthcare providers connected to NGEMR.

Currently only for Singapore’s public and private healthcare institutions, the NGEMR is a major health tech initiative undertaken by the Ministry of Health since 2022.

NGEMR has been rolled out in two out of three public healthcare clusters in the country, which are the NHG Health and National University Health System (NUHS).

2028 is also the timeline for the phased rollout for the final cluster, SingHealth, to be completed.

DSTA’s Chief Executive, Ng Chad-Son, pointed out that this interoperable solution would provide "healthcare professionals the up-to-date insights they need to make faster, better-informed decisions for holistic patient care of every SAF serviceman.”

"By bridging the NGEMR with the SAF medical systems, we will enable a connected healthcare ecosystem where SAF personnel’s medical histories and follow-up information will flow securely and efficiently to and from the SAF and the public healthcare system,” he added.

The Singapore Armed Forces Medical Corps (SAFMC) also formalised a partnership with SingHealth to collaborate on clinical care, training collaborations and professional exchanges between the two institutions.

Chief of Medical Corps, Brigadier-General (BG) Lee Wei Ting, highlighted the importance of adopting a whole-of-ecosystem approach to address global, interconnected challenges like global pandemic and mental health concerns.