Singapore hailed over health tech innovation amidst pandemic

It remained at the top of the IMD-SUTD Smart City Index for the second year in 2020.

Singapore has turned the pandemic into an opportunity to improve its current healthcare workflow and further expand the healthtech sector by innovating new solutions to provide better access and care to people, according to a report from GlobalData.

The successful adoption of technology to combat and contain the pandemic effectively has, in part, helped the country retain its top position in the IMD-SUTD Smart City Index for the second year in 2020, the report noted.

For example, the country has launched a mobile app Trace Together for contact tracing. The government also developed Covid GoBusiness portal, COVID-19 Situation Report, FluGoWhere, Gov.sg WhatsApp and MaskGoWhere.

Telemedicine, electronic health records, patient solutions, medical diagnostics, health management solutions, personal health and fitness and medical education are some of the areas in Singapore’s healthcare sector where technology plays a key role.

Recently, the Government Technology Agency of Singapore (GovTech) and the Ministry of Health (MOH) have established HealthCerts, a new standard for issuing of digital COVID-19 test result certificates. HealthCerts is a combination of cryptographic hashes, blockchain technology, privacy protection and identity proof.

“The country is enhancing its tech talent in the health care sector by offering required training and skills to improve patient service by increasing the digital patient-physician engagement in the post COVID-19 period. However, it is important to pay special attention to data privacy and prevent cybersecurity breaches,” GlobalData’s medical devices analyst Pratibha Thammanabhatla said.