The Health Connective Symposium 2024, which was held last month, saw 200+ attendees, 31 speakers and 30 workshops/lectures which were the most well-received.

A key theme of the Symposium was the sharing of skillsets by specialists, which sets in motion a future where family physicians can take on a bigger role in the patient care pathways in both pre and post-operative care. There is a future where specialists and family physicians can work together as a team to jointly manage patients’ health to improve care outcomes, reduce cost of care, and enable the bringing of care closer to the community.

Foundation Healthcare Holdings (FHH) also launched their Health Connective Programme at the symposium – intended to bring like-minded stakeholders together to create meaningful impact on the healthcare system. Coordinating Care with Impact is just the first of many initiatives under the Health Connective Programme.

Keynote speaker Dr Suraj Kumar, VP, College of Family Physicians Singapore, who helped kicked off the symposium shared the importance of care coordination and the role family physicians play. Here are a few key takeaways:

Family physicians, acting as care coordinators can help patients navigate through the complexities of Singapore healthcare system (e.g. multiple care providers, access to care waiting times, confusing subsidy systems, health literacy) with the ultimate goal to improve the health outcomes for patients
With the aging population and increase in chronic diseases, care coordinators ensure elderly patients receive comprehensive continuous care and reduce the risk of fragmented care that can lead to poor outcomes
Family physicians are trained in patient centred, holistic and generalist care. They are able to handle the increasing complexity of care and best placed in the centre of the healthcare eco-system
Family physicians also play a crucial role in Healthier SG initiatives and improving care coordination through the use of technology in communication and continuity of care
Family physicians can be specialists, with the Health Information Bill and announcement that the Ministry of Health (“MOH”) intends to pass legislation by early next year to require all remaining private healthcare providers to onboard onto the National Electronic Health Record (NEHR) system

Alex Boulton, Partner & Head of Healthcare & Life Sciences, S.E.A., Bain & Co, shared Bain’s Asia Pacific Frontline of Healthcare Report 2024. Here are a few noteworthy statistics from their Singapore cohort:

Growing frustration with a fragmented, expensive and inefficient system
Findings include:
1. Consumerism – ~50% consumers willing to spend more out of pocket in exchange for better health outcomes, experience and greater efficiency
2. Care Everywhere – Telehealth usage persists post-COVID, making Online-Offline a “new normal.” Telehealth usage grew roughly twofold across APAC markets during the pandemic and stabilized in 2023
3. Care Management – ~91% consumers prefer single point of care. Digital health supercharging effectiveness of primary care
4. Tech Revolution – >50% consumers now feel comfortable with AI-powered healthcare delivery
Key Opportunities for APAC Healthcare include:
1. Reinventing customer experience
2. Coordinate care delivery
3. Future-proofing of tech infrastructure
4. Strategic partnerships
Digitally savvy patients want to take better control of their health. More than 70% of consumers say they conduct research online to understand their symptoms and treatments, and more than 60% use technology to monitor their health. Consumers want access to their health information and want easy access to their primary physician for ongoing and chronic care
Empowering physicians and health systems with data and technology. This will enable the health systems to match demand and connect patients to the right care teams and to deliver higher quality services more efficiently

The fireside chat panel speakers Dr. Sidharth Kachroo (Chief Health Officer, Prudential Assurance Company), Dr Mok Boon Rui (Founder & CEO, Pinnacle Family Clinic), Dr Shravan Verma (Founder & CEO, Speedoc), MD and Dr Suraj Kumar also shared their thoughts and valuable insights on care coordination.

Images: Foundation Healthcare