Overview of the Health Information Act (HIA)

Singapore’s ageing population and the growing prevalence of complex, chronic conditions require sustained, coordinated care across multiple healthcare providers and settings. As care delivery shifts from acute hospitals to the community, fragmented medical records pose significant risks — including medication errors, duplicate procedures, and delayed treatments.

Enacted on 3 February 2026, the Health Information Act (HIA) provides the legal framework for how health information is contributed, accessed, shared and protected. It enables authorised healthcare professionals to securely access key health information across care settings, supporting safer, more coordinated care.

About the Health Information Act (HIA)

"Health information" includes:

Administrative information: This refers to information like one’s name, address, phone number, and other personal details. This falls within the scope of health information when it is used for healthcare purposes.

Clinical information: This refers to information about one’s physical and mental health, as well as details about one’s diagnosis, treatment, and care. Examples include prescriptions, test results, medical procedures, and discharge notes when leaving the hospital.

The Three Key Frameworks of the HIA

The HIA establishes three key frameworks to govern how health information is shared and protected across Singapore:

Better Care, Safer Health Information

The HIA supports better health outcomes by ensuring that key health information is available to the care professionals, across healthcare settings.

How the HIA Benefits You

The HIA helps your healthcare professionals access the right information at the right time so that they can:

• Make more informed clinical decisions about your care

• Avoid prescribing medications that may cause harmful drug interactions or allergic reactions

• Reduce repeated tests and procedures

• Coordinate your care more effectively across hospitals, clinics, and community care providers

The HIA also sets clear rules on how healthcare providers access, contribute, share and protect your health information, helping to ensure it is handled securely and responsibly.

Beyond NEHR: Supporting Your Care

Sometimes, healthcare providers and community partners need to share health information outside the NEHR to support your care. For example, this may help coordinate services under national healthcare initiatives such as Healthier SG and Age Well SG.

The HIA provides the legal basis for your health information to be shared if all of the following requirements are met:

1. The organisations sharing and receiving your health information are prescribed under the HIA.

2. The purposes for sharing your health information are prescribed under the HIA.

3. Only the prescribed types of health information required for that purpose may be shared.

4. Your health information is used only for the permitted purpose prescribed under the HIA.

The Ministry of Health (MOH) has powers under the HIA to stop any unauthorised sharing of health information and take appropriate action where necessary.

What is the National Electronic Health Record (NEHR)

The National Electronic Health Record (NEHR) is Singapore's secure, central repository of key health information. It enables authorised healthcare professionals involved in your care to access important health information when needed, helping to provide safer and more coordinated care across different healthcare settings.

Since its implementation in 2011, the NEHR has connected public hospitals and polyclinics, most private hospitals, and an increasing number of community healthcare providers. Under the HIA, more healthcare providers will progressively contribute health information to the NEHR, giving your care team a more complete picture of your health.

Beyond individual patient care, the NEHR serves a broader public interest and health purpose. NEHR data can help shape national health policies and supports research to improve population health outcomes.

What information is included?

Health information contributed to the NEHR may include:

• Medications

• Allergies

• Laboratory results

• Diagnoses

• Procedures

• Discharge summaries

How Your Health Information Is Protected

Protecting your health information is a key objective of the HIA.

Only authorised healthcare professionals who require the information to provide you care may access your health records. The HIA also requires healthcare providers and HIMS vendors to implement cybersecurity and data security measures to safeguard your information.

These safeguards include:

• Strict controls over who can access health information;

• Cybersecurity and data security measures to protect health information;

• Audit logs to monitor access and detect inappropriate activity in the NEHR; and

• Mandatory reporting of cybersecurity incidents and data breaches to MOH.

If a healthcare provider experiences a data breach that is likely to result in significant harm to individuals, the healthcare provider is required to notify these affected individuals.

Viewing and Managing Health Information

Viewing Health Information

You can view key health information from NEHR, including your medications, drug allergies and laboratory test results, anytime through HealthHub. 

You can also review which healthcare institutions have accessed your National Electronic Health Record (NEHR) using the NEHR Access History feature.

The feature shows access at the institution level over the past 12 months. For public healthcare institutions, access is displayed at the healthcare cluster level (for example, SingHealth or NHG Health), as your care is typically provided by a team of healthcare professionals rather than a single individual.

If you believe your records may have been accessed without a legitimate reason, you can report the matter to Synapxe, the operator of the NEHR for investigation. 

Managing Access to Health Information 

If you wish to limit who can view your health information, you may choose to place an Access Restriction on NEHR records.

This prevents authorised healthcare providers from viewing most of your detailed health information. However, healthcare providers are still required to contribute your health information to the NEHR, so your records remain complete and up to date.

From 2027, a limited set of essential information will remain available to authorised healthcare providers for patient safety, including your:

• Name

• NRIC or FIN

• Date of birth

• Race

• Sex

• Drug allergies

• Vaccination records

This helps ensure healthcare providers have access to essential information in an emergency. 

Before Placing an Access Restriction 

Before deciding whether an Access Restriction is right for you, there are a few important things to know.

• How to apply: You can currently submit a request at selected public healthcare institutions. From 2027, you will also be able to do this through the HealthHub app.

• Restrictions apply to the entire healthcare institution: Because your care team works together, it is not possible to restrict access for specific individuals within an institution while allowing others.

• Healthier SG exception: If you are enrolled in Healthier SG, you are not able to place an Access Restriction on your chosen primary care provider (PCP).

While you can restrict access to your NEHR records, your healthcare provider may have less information available when making decisions about your care. We encourage you to consider these implications carefully before making your decision.

When Will More Health Information Be Available? 

As more healthcare providers come on board under the Health Information Act (HIA), you will gradually be able to see a more complete picture of your health information in HealthHub.

This will happen in phases as different types of healthcare providers begin contributing health information to the NEHR.

*Refer to First Schedule of the HIA for the full list of the types of health information to be contributed by each provider.