IT Improves Oral Healthcare Delivery: Patient Records At National Dental Centre of Singapore Go Digital

25 March 2011

IT innovations are increasingly at the forefront of dental care delivery. The new electronic dental record (EDR) system at the National Dental Centre of Singapore (NDCS) is the first custom-built solution in Singapore to seamlessly integrate all major aspects of patient management in a large-scale dental institution. The EDR is the latest addition to NDCS’s other IT-enabled clinic applications such as the digital x-ray imaging system and surgical planning system.

Features
The EDR system is custom-built for dentistry and features a clinical notes module which caters to all record keeping needs in our specialist environment. The system interfaces with the larger SingHealth EMR and enables critical medical information, like the patients' medical history, lab test results and drug allergy alerts, to be shared with dentists for the first time.

Benefits
The National Dental Centre of Singapore sees over 150,000 patient attendances a year, with each clinic episode having some form of records need. The EDR provides a means to manage these patient information efficiently and securely. In addition, having dental records on digital formats not only frees up storage space for other clinical uses, it also contributes to improving patient care outcomes by facilitating higher patient safety and quality of care.

Quick and timely access to a patient’s updated dental history and any pre-existing medical condition allows more thorough assessments in less time. Care can be better co-ordinated for patients who need to see multiple dental specialists, or even medical specialists from other hospitals.

Information Security
Robust security controls are built into the system to protect information confidentiality, to ensure that it is used in a responsible and appropriate manner. Only doctors and healthcare staff who treat the patient will have access to the shared records.

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