GPs, FPs and DPs on CDMP and CHAS

11 May 2015

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament

Assoc Prof Fatimah Lateef

MP for Marine Parade GRC

Question No. 571

To ask the Minister for Health whether there are plans to make it compulsory for general practitioners, family medicine practitioners and dental practitioners to enrol into the Chronic Disease Management Programme and Community Health Assist Scheme.

Oral Reply

1        Since the inception of the Chronic Disease Management Programme (CDMP) and Community Health Assist Scheme (CHAS), there has been a steady increase in the number of clinics participating in both schemes. There are currently about 1,000 CDMP clinics, and 850 GP and 550 dental clinics participating in CHAS. This makes up more than half of all private medical clinics providing primary care, and more than three quarters of all private dental clinics island-wide.

2        We acknowledge that some providers prefer not to participate in these schemes for various reasons. While the Ministry of Health does not currently have plans to make it compulsory for primary care providers to enrol into the CDMP or CHAS, we strongly encourage primary care providers to join the schemes. This enables Singaporeans to access subsidised care and tap on Medisave at more primary care providers, improving the accessibility of affordable primary care. It also enables our General Practitioners (GPs) and Family Physicians (FPs) to participate more actively in the management of chronic diseases.

3        There are various on-going publicity and outreach efforts, such as regular road shows and engagement sessions, where interested providers can find out more about the schemes. We will continue to work with the Agency for Integrated Care (AIC) to encourage more clinics to participate in CDMP and CHAS.