Effectiveness of Telemedicine Programme

27 Ms Sun Xueling asked the Minister for Health (a) what is the percentage of follow-up consultations that can be migrated to the national telemedicine consultation framework; (b) what are the criteria to determine what ailments can be addressed via tele-consultations while not lowering standards of patient care; and (c) what is the expected percentage of cost savings that can be achieved for hospitals and patients with such a move.

Mr Gan Kim Yong: The Smart Health Video Consultation (VC) initiative was introduced in our public healthcare institutions last November. The practice is evolving.

Our chief considerations are patient safety. Clinicians would assess individual patient’s suitability before offering the option.

For a start, VC has been introduced in psychiatric counselling, paediatric eczema pharmacy follow-up consultation, paediatric home care service, lactation consultation, speech therapy, post-stroke, communicable disease, and cancer patient care. These are also areas where it has been found to work well overseas.

Early indications show that it is bringing about greater productivity and convenience for patients. It is still too early to assess the likely extent of adoption and the impact on cost savings. We will continue to monitor its rollout and encourage greater adoption.