| 1. |
Who is the doctor in charge of the patient at the Hospital? |
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The Admission Officer will inform you of the specialist in-charge of your patient. An Initial Diagnosis Report will also be sent to you after the first consultation. |
| 2. |
What is the follow-up after a patient is admitted to the Hospital? |
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When you refer your patients to our Hospital, our doctors will keep you informed of their diagnosis via an Initial Diagnosis Report which will be sent to you after the first consultation. |
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Upon discharge of your patient from our SOCs and Hospital, our doctors will send you a Discharge Summary for follow-up care. This summary details the treatment received by the patient while in our care and the follow-up care needed by the patient. The Hospital would refer the patient back to you for follow-up wherever possible, as long as the patient is stable and can safely be managed at primary-care level. |
| 3. |
What are the measures taken by NHG to make the follow-up between GP members & the Hospital seamless? |
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Our admission officers will help ensure that the transfer of cases and communications between GP members and the Hospitals is hassle free. Our institutional staff are also briefed and trained on the collaboration processes for GP members. However, human errors do occur and if you encounter any problems with any NHG Partners features, we hope that you will highlight them to us so that we can resolve it. |
| 4. |
Can we refer subsidized patients? |
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Subsidized patients pay a lower fee not because the Hospital is subsidizing them, but because the Government is. Therefore, the Government determines the rules on who can qualify for subsidy. Currently, patients referred by private GPs to our SOCs will not qualify for the Government subsidy unless they pass a means test. Therefore, if the patients referred from private GPs are poor or are in financial difficulty, they can apply for subsidy. Those who pass the means test will be charged the subsidized fee. Those who do not but still have some financial difficulties will be referred to medical social workers for further review. |
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However, patients who are referred by GPs for direct admission will be allowed to choose the class of ward, subject to availability of beds. Patients should choose a class of ward in keeping with their financial means. If they are unable to afford even the most heavily subsidized wards, they could approach our medical social workers who will evaluate their financial background, and apply for Medifund assistance. |
| 5. |
Are GP members allowed to prescribe drugs from the NHG Pharmacy? |
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Yes, NHG Pharmacy at Woodlands and Clementi have retail pharmacies that can dispense GP prescriptions. More retail pharmacies at our other polyclinics will be opening soon. |
| 6. |
Who are the Admission Officers? Are they medical or nursing staff? |
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The Admission Officers are administrative staff who may have nursing background and/or are with the Hospital for many years. They will be able to guide you through the direct access procedures. |
| 7. |
Can we have access to Laboratory and X-ray services in the Hospital? |
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Yes you can. We have listed the numbers of these services in this booklet. Alternatively, you can call the respective Hospital hotline and ask the AO for the telephone number of the service you wish to access. |
| 8. |
What number do we call if we fail to get through the Direct Access line or want to provide feedback? |
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You can contact the NHG Partners club secretariat for clarification or to provide feedback at 772 5812. Alternatively, you can email to partners@nhg.com.sg . We are in the process of setting up a new office and you will be duly informed of any changes in telephone number and email. |
| 9. |
Who will be the primary provider for subsidized patients with multiple problems? |
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While in Hospital, the patient will be under the care of consultant-in-charge assigned upon admission. He or she will be responsible for and will coordinate all medical care during the patient’s stay in the Hospital. |
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Upon discharge, provided the patient is stable and can safely be managed at primary-care level, the Hospital would refer the patient back to the GP for follow-up wherever possible. |
| 10. |
Our patients are sometimes not referred back to us. |
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It is our practice at the point of discharge for doctors to ask the patient for their follow-up preference. Many choose to revert to their referring GP whom they are familiar and comfortable with. We also feel that this is best for the patient. However, some may request to be followed-up by the Polyclinic and we must respect the patient’s preference. However, we will update both the referring GP and the preferred provider on the patient’s medical condition after discharge.
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| 11. |
Why set up the club? Why not extend the benefits to all GPs without having to sign up? |
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Requesting participating GPs to apply to be members of this programme enables us to set up a membership database which will allow us to serve our GP members better. |
| 12. |
What if I need to admit a patient but I can’t get through the hotlines? Or the AO can’t locate a doctor-on-call? Can I just admit the patient and let him⁄her tell your Hospital staff that he⁄she is admitting under your Direct Admission scheme? |
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The Admission Officer will be responsible for ensuring that one of our doctors is in touch with you in order to facilitate the admission. Communication between doctors is beneficial to both doctors and patients. |
| 13. |
How is the fast-track process for Direct Admission patients different from the usual A&E process? |
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The process in different Hospitals differs slightly on admission procedures after office hours. At TTSH, an appointed Hospital staff who handles the admission will receive patients. At the other Hospitals, patients who are expected to arrive after 5 pm will be received at the A&E. A doctor will triage the patient to ensure that the patient is in stable medical condition before being sent to the ward. This way, the patient does not need to register as an A&E patient or queue alongside patients who walked in from the street. |
| 14. |
I am usually very busy, so can I get my nurse⁄patient to call your hotline directory and fax to you the Direct Admission Form I′ve filled up? |
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You may get your nurse (but not your patient) to call and fax the form directly to us. When we receive the information, our Admission Officer will still arrange for our doctor to get in touch with you before patient arrival. |
| 15. |
Regarding the further opportunities for collaboration you mentioned in your presentation, how can we move on to that from the basic benefits we are given right now? When will these additional collaboration opportunities be ready? |
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Most of the additional collaboration opportunities are already in place, e.g. NHG cancer programme, shared care, etc. These programmes are usually managed at the individual institution level. If you are interested and keen to work with institutional clinicians on such programmes, please feel free to approach the respective programme co-ordinating officers. To communicate with our members, we will be listing these opportunities along with the contact person, in our NHG Partners newsletter. |
| 16. |
If we have already joined SingHealth′s GPEP programme, can we still become members of NHG Partners? |
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Yes you can. We do not restrict our members from joining other programmes that also benefits patients. |
| 17. |
What is the difference between SingHealth′s scheme and your scheme? |
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The basic objective of both clusters is to promote collaboration between private family physicians and institutional clinicians, so as to provide seamless service to patients. There will inevitably be some differences in set-up and focus, but such differences should be small enough to be immaterial to most GPs accessing these benefits. |
| 18. |
Do I have to pay a membership fee? |
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No, you need not pay a membership fee. |
| 19. |
Do I have access to my patients′ records when he⁄she is in your Hospital? Will I have a say in my patients′ treatments? |
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During hospitalization, the Hospital consultant will be your point of contact for patient information. He will be happy to discuss investigation results and treatment with you. Please feel free to contact him to find out your patient′s status and if you wish to discuss treatment with him. |
| 20. |
Are NetCare services free of all charges? Are all the services described in the presentation available now? |
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Membership to NetCare is free for NHG Partners. However, not all services are available now but they should be available in a few months′ time. |
