Health Services Regulation - Horizon Scanning Project
The Health Services Regulation Horizon Scanning (HS) Study was initiated with the objective of identifying key areas of concern stemming from emerging innovations and trends within the healthcare sector. The aim was to facilitate a well-informed and strategic approach to regulation by the Ministry of Health (MOH), Singapore.
Using a horizon scanning methodology that involved systematic examination of information sources to detect, prioritise and assess signals of novel developments in public health, the DUKE-NUS Centre of Regulatory Excellence (CoRE) identified 15 issues of significance which could have an impact on health regulation in the next 3 to 10 years.
The HS study started in November 2022 and comprised interviews with experts and practitioners, a driver mapping (DM) workshop, and a patient advisory focus group discussion (FGD). Participants were associated with the Singapore healthcare sector as policymakers, clinicians, innovators, healthcare providers, patients and healthcare industry representatives. Literature reviews were conducted to supplement the findings from the interviews, DM workshop and FGDs and to provide a global perspective of how other countries were responding to similar emerging issues and trends impacting the Singapore health system.
Illustration of the HS Study Methodology:
The issues identified in the Health Service Regulation Horizon Scanning (HS) Study are all intricately linked and fall broadly into four overlapping areas of changes in care models, advancements in digital technologies, innovations in personalised medicine, and CAM which will drive changes in healthcare delivery and present new risks in healthcare.
This HS Study concluded that digital technologies are expected to drive the majority of changes for healthcare services delivery and consumption. However, digital technologies come with their own challenges that require appropriate regulatory frameworks. The shift toward community and home-based care will necessitate the integration of social, health and wellness services for more holistic healthcare and disease prevention. The increasing adoption of personalised treatments and novel therapies will require flexible yet robust regulatory approaches balancing expedited reviews with managing issues such as the impact of genome editing. Given Singapore’s diverse cultural landscape, there are pressures to increasingly integrate CAM into the healthcare system with appropriate evidence-based frameworks.