The National University Health System has recently introduced new features on its mobile application ahead of a government plan to consolidate similar apps into a single platform.
The NUHS App now shows estimated wait times in near real time across emergency departments of National University Hospital and Ng Teng Fong General Hospital, as well as the urgent care centre of Alexandra Hospital. Wait times are refreshed every 30 minutes.
The app now also allows emergency patients to fill out health declaration forms prior to their arrival. They can then proceed directly to registration after showing their forms to screeners at the entrance.
NUHS has also introduced the NurseFirst helpline on the mobile app. The helpline, manned by emergency triage nurses from Woodlands Health, directs unsure callers to the appropriate hospitals or clinics based on their symptoms.
Additionally, NUHS App users can now check the nearest GPFirst and PaedsENGAGE clinics within a 2-kilometre radius from their location.
THE LARGER CONTEXT
NUHS co-developed and launched the OneNUHS App with Synapxe, Singapore’s national health tech agency, in 2021. Since April last year, it has been known as the NUHS App. Available on both iOS and Android devices, it has more than 840,000 unique users.
In a statement, NUHS said the new features are being introduced “as part of its broader efforts to harness digital tools to improve care navigation and patient experience amid rising healthcare demand, especially with an ageing population.”
“The feature allows patients and their families to better plan their journey and make more informed choices. At the same time, providing transparency about wait times help to support hospital operations by improving patient flow and managing expectations, especially during periods of high demand,” explained Dr Malcolm Mahadevan, adjunct professor and NUHS chief of emergency medicine.
Citing 2024 data, NUHS said more than 85% of priority 3 patients – or those presenting with minor conditions such as colds and nosebleeds – did not require hospitalisation and were discharged after their visit.
NUHS also uses an AI to predict hospital bed availability up to two weeks ahead of time.
Meanwhile, NUHS said it will continue to maintain and improve its applications as the Ministry of Health and Synapxe work on consolidating public healthcare applications into a single platform by 2027. These include the NUHS App, HealthHub SG, SingHealth’s Health Buddy, and NHG Cares App. In its recent inaugural AI conference, Synapxe shared that it plans to incorporate AI into the consolidated app so it can deliver personalised health information via a multilingual, conversational interface.
