Highlights from the Honorary Secretary

Focus group discussion on NEHR guidelines

On 26 August 2023, representatives from SMA and Academy of Medicine, Singapore attended a focus group discussion organised by the Ministry of Health (MOH) regarding the guidelines on the appropriate use of and access to the National Electronic Health Records (NEHR).

The NEHR guidelines can be found at the following link: https://bit.ly/3OTs8Dy.

Renewal of practising certificate

SMA wishes to remind all Members that the Singapore Medical Council's (SMC) renewal of practising certificates for registered doctors is currently in progress.

Please submit your renewal application not later than 30 November 2023. A non-appealable and nonrefundable late application fee of $80 will be charged by SMC for applications submitted from 1 December 2023 onwards.

Further details can be found in SMC's announcement at the following link: https://bit.ly/3PIrAlH.

SMA presentation at PGY1 orientation

On 16 August 2023, SMA Council member and past SMA President Dr Lee Pheng Soon spoke to Postgraduate Year 1 (PGY1) doctors at the orientation for Malaysian and UK graduates conducted at MOH College of Medicine Building.

Dr Lee highlighted the roles played by the various professional bodies, as well as the recent SMA advocacy efforts, specifically those relating to doctors in training. Earlier this year, Dr Lee also wrote an article about the role of SMA within the medical profession. His article can be read at the following link: https://bit.ly/5504-Feature.

We thank Ministry of Health Holdings (MOHH) for the opportunity to share the relevance of the SMA, the work we have done and the benefits of SMA Membership with the PGY1 doctors. Notably, all house officers are automatically enrolled as SMA Members, with Membership fees for the first year being paid for by MOHH. For details regarding SMA Membership, please visit the following link: https://www.sma.org.sg/register/membership.

SMA feedback on Medishield Life claims management

SMA provided comments to the media in response to the recent MOH announcement detailing the new initiatives to strengthen governance over Medishield Life (MSHL) claims.

SMA has also shared the following recommendations on the framework for MOH's consideration:

1. The doctor who is unsure of the appropriate surgical code(s) should be given the opportunity to notify MOH to review his submission. In this situation, the doctor should not be considered as non-compliant.
2. The framework should be targeted at the small minority of doctors who are suspected of egregious claims behaviour.
3. The framework should allow for doctors who commit unintentional errors to be educated rather than have the error counted as one strike against them.
4. The doctor who is suspended from Medisave and MSHL accreditation should be given the right to appeal against the suspension.
5. The duration of suspension of Medisave and MSHL accreditation should be specified.
6. The rectification process should be kept simple; eg, the format for submission could be the same as that of the Letter of Certification.

7. Last but not least, we opined that with the claims management process in place, insurers could be assured that the number of inappropriate claims would be reduced. This should give the insurers the confidence to open up their panels and allow more specialists to join panels.

The media reports can be viewed at the following links:

1. The Straits Times: https://bit.ly/3S5MkFy
2. 8world: https://bit.ly/3Mtu1qf

3. Zaobao: https://bit.ly/3rYStZp

SMA's full communication to Members will be reproduced in a future issue of SMA News.