SAF medical records to be centralised for seamless transfer of care

By 2028, Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) personnel’s medical records will be centralised for all three public health clusters here, allowing more seamless transfer of care.

- Samuel Devaraj Correspondent

The SAF records system will be integrated with the Next Generation Electronic Medical Record (NGEMR) system currently used in the NHG Health and National University Health System clusters.

NGEMR will be rolled out to SingHealth by 2028.

Health technology agency Synapxe and the Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA) signed an agreement in September for the integration of SAF medical centres’ systems with NGEMR.

This was announced on Oct 24 by Minister of State for Defence Desmond Choo at the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the SAF Medical Corps and SingHealth at the new Central Manpower Base in Hillview.

Among other things, the agreement is set to enhance the integration of medical informatics systems, including the NGEMR, as well as advance training and capability development in both organisations.

Mr Choo said “a wall” had stood between world-class medical care inside both military camps and public hospitals.

With two separate repositories of medical information, doctors may not have the full picture, potentially resulting in duplicated tests and delayed treatments.