Healthcare service: the example of Singapore

From June 5–10, 2016 in Singapore's capital an international study tour was held on the theme "Healthcare Services: The Example of Singapore".

Singapore shows a rare state of affairs when effective management under the financial crisis has not only allowed services to be maintained at their pre-crisis levels, but has also brought further breakthroughs. Singapore's healthcare system, according to the WHO, is recognized as the best in Asia and one of the best in the world. This is precisely why our Singaporean colleagues' experience is so interesting, as the basis of their healthcare system is a harmonious combination of a state medical insurance system and services of private clinics.

For these medical structures to successfully work together in Russia, such knowledge and practices developed in all areas must be integrated.

Managers of healthcare facilities face many problems: raising the quality of the services they provide and introducing new methods, improving their technology, efficient clinic management, quality control of their health services, and much more. These issues are especially timely as the Russian healthcare system is currently being reformed.

Joining together in the search for new ideas and approaches for solving these problems was the goal of this hands-on seminar that studied the achievements made by Singapore's healthcare system. Russian healthcare workers could learn more about how Singapore healthcare institutions work through the example of state and private medical facilities.

The business side of the programme included a visit to the largest state and private hospitals on the island. In presentations the Russian participants learned about the strongest aspects of Singapore's healthcare system, the implementation of electronic patient records, and the hands-on visits gave them the opportunity to inspect medical facilities, as well as ask interesting questions of their Singapore counterparts.

The seminar program not only allowed participants an immersion in the field of health services, they were also able to discover Singapore's culture. Study tour was organized for the delegates where they could visit the main tourist attractions, accompanied by a first-class guide.