Healthcare in Singapore

About Us

Optinuum is run by a group of like-minded healthcare professionals who are passionate about transforming homecare as an essential link in the healthcare delivery system, if not the very core foundation of the entire healthcare system.
We exist to help and enable patients who need to recuperate, have chronic conditions, or face the end of life, be cared for at home.

Home Care, the important link

Home is the best place for patients who are sick, recuperating, or have chronic conditions that can be managed at home.
However, it is natural for families and caregivers to experience some uncertainty or stress when caring for their loved ones at home.

As a result, many patients are sent to hospitals or nursing homes, many which can be costly, and with long waiting times.facing a shortage of beds and staff and charge hefty fees.

In truth, for most non-critical cases, patients can be cared for at home, and it is the most ideal solution if there is an adult at home to assist.

Why Home Care?

1. Many patients would like to convalesce in the comfort of their own home, to be in familiar surroundings. It improves their well-being emotionally and physically. For end-of-life patients, being at home lets them live their remaining days with love and diginity.

2. Home care allows the patient to have one-to-one attention from the caregiver, unlike in nursing homes or hospitals where staff may have many patients on hand.

3. Home care is the most cost-effective solution for families in the long term, compared to nursing home or hospital charges.

How We Make a Difference

We provide caregiver training and support, as well as a platform for caregivers and families to interact, so as to empower you with the right skills, knowledge and confidence to take care of you loved ones confidently.

We teach you how to take care of your loved one

Our unique training programs let the caregiver understand the patient’s medical condition and needs, and anticipate changes along the way. Caregivers learn to record, monitor and observe the patient’s progress, and to communicate closely with the patient’s doctor.

Our programs are conducted in short modules, so that caregivers need not be away from their patients for long periods of time. The modules are tailored according to the needs of the patient.

We take care of you, the caregiver

We understand the stress and anxiety that you as a caregiver may go through in caring for a patient on a daily basis.

That’s why we provide you the vital training, supportand friendship to see you through. Most importantly, it is easy to stay in touch, update, and talk to us. You can also join our support network of caregivers and families to share ideas, seek support or mentor others.

Optinuum aims to make home-care a viable option and to provide families with a seamless care solution after the patient is discharged from the hospital.

Call us today at 81968807 to find out more about our programs.

According to ChannelNewsAsia, “Four public hospitals in Singapore have become the first in the Asia Pacific region to receive international recognition for their electronic medical record systems.

Singapore General Hospital, KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital, Tan Tock Seng Hospital and National University Hospital were presented the Stage 6 EMRAM Award by US-based HIMSS Analytics.

The firm provides international benchmarking for electronic medical records systems implemented in healthcare institutions.

Speaking at the award presentation, Permanent Secretary for Health, Yong Ying-I, said the growing sophistication in IT enables the hospitals to reduce medical and administrative errors as well as time savings, which help keep healthcare costs in check.

The goal is to reach Stage 7 – operating in a fully paperless environment.

In the United States, only 3.5 per cent out of the more than 5,200 hospitals tracked by HIMSS Analytics have achieved Stage 6 recognition for implementation of the electronic medical record.”

My question to this is, where is the proof of reduce medical and administrative errors as well as time savings? How does it translate to better healthcare outcomes, especially those not related to medical errors?

My father-in-law has been going through 10 weeks of weekly intravenous injections of iron-sucrose injections in an attempt to raise his heamoglobin level. This was done partly to increase his effort tolerance, as he was finding it difficult to walk short distances without feeling breathless. This is done on top of weekly erythropoietin injections.

Intravenouse treatment at home

This is the trend of his haemoglobin from January to April 2011 :

24th January – 7.8 g/dL
9th Match – 8.4 g/dL
28th April – 12.1 g/dL

Total improvement in haemoglobin level is 4.3 g/dL.

This is the breakdown of costs to for this cycle of care :

Cost of IV drug – $240 for 10 vials of iron-sucrose
Cost of IV accessories – $440 for IV accessories
Cost of IV procedure done by nurses in the hospital’s outpatient clinic – $500 ( Cost by doctors’ home visits is approximately $2000 ) ( I practically did it for nothing for my father-in-law )
Cost of transport to the hospital and away from work for caregiver (dependent on type of transport and caregiver’s work) ( omit this if procedure is done by home-visiting doctors ) – $4000 ( taking my type of transport and work as an example )

Total cost ( if procedure is done in hospital ) – $5180
Total cost ( if procedure is done at home ) – $2680

So cost-effectiveness of intravenous iron-sucrose medication to improve haemoglobin level in my father-in-law was :

5180 / 4.3 = $1205 per 1 g/dL increase in haemoglobin if procedures performed in hospital
OR
2680 / 4.3 = $623 per 1 g/dL increase in haemoglobin if procedures performed at home

So overall, the family is happy with the results of the intravenous treatment. The question is, at what patient’s comfort and cost?