Primary care needs more attention in Singapore: Health professional
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SINGAPORE — Healthcare innovations that are done “incrementally” will only have a limited impact if they are not tied to the ultimate goal of delivering value to the patient, said a healthcare economist yesterday.
In Singapore, such “value” can be added by strengthening a primary-care sector, reducing duplication of services in hospitals, and adopting an “outcome-oriented” mindset, said Professor Michael Porter in his keynote address at the National Seminar on Productivity in Healthcare.
“We need to organise solutions around the patient’s condition, and aim to improve his overall outcome over the full cycle of care.” Singapore should consider reorganising its acute and chronic care practices into integrated facilities catering to specific conditions, said Prof Porter.
Primary care can also be made more robust in “multi-clinician, team-based settings”, rather than general practitioners “going solo”, as is the case in Singapore now.
He suggested setting up centres for dedicated primary practices, such as geriatrics, and a one-stop “prevention hub” to address smoking, weight disorders and other addictions.
“Primary care is a big missing gap in Singapore’s system,” he said.
Hospitals, on the other hand, should consider honing different specialties to reduce duplication.
Healthcare practitioners must also be outcome-oriented, said Prof Porter, urging the Republic to adopt standards to measure outcomes across all healthcare providers.
He also suggested that healthcare institutions be rated by performance to help consumers make informed choices.
