With an ageing population, it has become increasingly important for policy makers to understand and respond to changing needs so as to optimise the functioning of the healthcare system. A key feature of a high functioning healthcare system, is the ability to efficiently identify and meet needs of individuals. The task of policy makers is to support this goal by promoting programmes and allocating resources where they are most likely to make a positive difference. A recommended first step is to segment the population based on need. But what exactly is population segmentation? Why might population segmentation improve planning for optimal care? How do we accomplish population segmentation?

In this session, we address these questions with a focus on various approaches currently being evaluated in Singapore. One approach used at SingHealth is to leverage on the electronic health records. A second approach is to collect a limited set of new data, either in the clinical context or in a community survey, and to categorise people based on health and health-related social service needs. This has been instrumental in identifying potentially unmet needs in the elderly population at a community laboratory in Chin Swee. A third approach is to apply a more detailed assessment tool. The Tsao Foundation, a non-profit family foundation, will share their experience with EasyCare, a needs assessment tool first developed in 1994, and used in the United Kingdom, United States and Europe. Recently, a modified EasyCare instrument-based risk screener has been co-developed with NUS SSHSPH under the Community for Successful Ageing (ComSA) programme, and this has been used to derive a bio-psycho-social risk score to identify population subsets with risk-of-care breakdown.

We anticipate this session will promote a robust conversation on the potential value of population segmentation and ways in which this approach can be harnessed to promote optimal care for the population of Singapore.