Singapore Management University (SMU) will offer a new second major in Health Economics and Management (HEM) to develop industry-ready graduates who are equipped with the knowledge and skills necessary for effective administration and management within the healthcare sector.

“The rate of ageing in Singapore is at its highest ever and with this comes an unprecedented demand for healthcare services. We have a healthcare system that delivers excellent, affordable and quality care but we will have to transform with new models of care to meet the fresh challenges that face us. Healthcare administrators play a critical role and work hand-in-hand with healthcare practitioners to deliver the care that patients need and to make our healthcare system future-ready. This new major has all the essential components to prepare a student to be an effective healthcare administrator and have a bright future in the dynamic healthcare sector,” said Prof Ivy Ng, Group Chief Executive Officer, Singapore Health Services.

Students of HEM will learn areas of studies relating to healthcare administration, policy, economics, management, operations, and analytics. The SMU HEM will bring the university’s unique and innovative pedagogy to the healthcare industry, providing students experiential and work-based learning at hospitals and other healthcare institutions.

Open to all SMU students in their first or second year of study as of AY2018/19, the HEM programme will open doors to meaningful career pathways in the healthcare industry, and is suitable for anyone with a passion to promote the health and well-being of individuals, contribute to the saving of lives and graceful ageing of society, while being empowered with in-demand ICT skills.

The full story published in The Straits Times Online (16 March 2018) is enclosed:

New SMU course in health economics and management among moves to boost health tech sector

By Felicia Choo

SINGAPORE - As part of efforts to develop infocomm technology (ICT) capabilities in the healthcare sector, the Singapore Management University (SMU) will be offering a second major in health economics and management.

Students will learn about healthcare administration, policy, economics, management, operations and analytics, with work-based learning in hospitals and other healthcare institutions.

This was announced on Friday (March 16) in conjunction with Health Tech Day, which was organised by the Infocomm Media Development Authority and Integrated Health Information Systems (IHiS).

The event, held at SMU Labs, near Victoria Street, brought together more than 40 organisations, including healthcare institutions, companies and training partners, to showcase product innovations. It also offered more than 500 job opportunities in the health tech sector.

Amid spiralling healthcare costs and a rapidly ageing population, Singapore is stepping up its efforts to boost the health tech workforce through more training, education and job opportunities.

To support mid-career professionals in their transition to the healthcare sector, IHiS has set a target to place and train 50 mid-career professionals, managers, executives and technicians through Workforce Singapore's Adapt and Grow Professional Conversion Programmes over the next two years.

They will be trained over a period of three to nine months for jobs such as network engineer, mobile application developer and software developer.

A participant at Health Tech Day learning how to use a machine that packs and dispenses medication in bottles, as part of the Outpatient Pharmacy Automation System. ST PHOTO: FELICIA CHOO

Existing ICT professionals will also benefit from training in in-demand skills in cyber security, data analytics, cloud computing and software development, with global biopharmaceutical company MSD joining the TechSkills Accelerator (TeSA) initiative.

The initiative aims to accelerate professional development for tech jobs. MSD will provide more than 90 ICT professionals with on-the-job training and overseas attachments over the next three years.

About 27,000 have been trained since the initiative started in April 2016.

Mr Bruce Liang, chief information officer of the Ministry of Health (MOH) and chief executive officer of IHiS, said: "Health tech is an exciting space to be in now. Investments in this sector grew by 7 per cent over the last three years. Moving forward, the growth is expected to double and grow by some 13 per cent in the next three years. The trajectory growth would translate to a demand of approximately 1,200 more health IT jobs."

A new initiative to identify and solve healthcare challenges through technology on a national scale was launched this week.

Organised by IHiS, the National HealthTech Challenge brings together healthcare professionals, research institutes and the tech industry to come up with solutions, of which 10 will be selected for pilots in the third quarter of the year.

The challenge is themed to align with MOH's three shifts - Beyond Healthcare to Health, Beyond Hospital to Community, and Beyond Quality to Value.

Senior Minister of State for Communications and Information and Health Chee Hong Tat said at Health Tech Day: "If we can innovate new solutions to tackle our healthcare challenges, not only can we provide better care for our people, we also create economic opportunities for our companies to export their solutions to other cities around the world that are also experiencing similar demographic shifts."

Source: The Straits Times © Singapore Press Holdings Limited. Permission required for reproduction.