Published: Apr 23, 2026
Transforming pharmacy operations at a national scale
To support the MOH National Pharmacy Strategy, NCS co-developed the National Harmonised Integrated Pharmacy System (NHIPS) with Synapxe. This single, interoperable platform integrates with 8 national healthcare systems across 3 healthcare clusters and 50 institutions nationwide. NHIPS centralises and standardises medication data, supporting more than 4,300 healthcare professionals with consistent workflows and clearer visibility. By enabling cross-fill capabilities and removing physical and institutional barriers between pharmacies, the platform supports more seamless medication fulfilment across the network. At a national level, NHIPS strengthens interoperability across the healthcare ecosystem and provides a scalable digital foundation to support ongoing and future pharmacy modernisation initiatives, including planned AI integration.
Key takeaways
- Single national pharmacy platform integrated with 8 national health systems across 3 healthcare clusters and 50 institutions
- Standardised medication data and workflows supporting more than 4,300 healthcare professionals nationwide
- Seamless cross institution medication fulfilment enabled through interoperable and paperless processes
- Improved patient safety and care continuity through unified visibility of medication histories and automated checks
- Strong digital foundation for national pharmacy modernisation, including telepharmacy, central fill operations, and future AI integration
The challenge
Singapore's legacy pharmacy landscape was siloed and unable to consistently support efficient and scalable healthcare across 3 public healthcare clusters and 50 institutions. Variations in drug formularies and medication information also limited standardisation. Patients and caregivers had to repeatedly provide preferences across multiple institutions, with limited language support for seniors. Healthcare professionals lacked full visibility of medication histories, increasing risks of duplication and contraindications. The outdated system also faced integration gaps with limited capacity to support new initiatives in pharmacy modernisation.
The solution
NCS partnered with Synapxe to develop NHIPS, an online platform that standardises medication data through a single drug formulary, and integrates with 8 national health systems and platforms, enabling workflow automation across Singapore's public healthcare system. NHIPS serves as the single source of truth for prescriptions, dispensing records, and medication counselling content, with workflow tracking for greater transparency and adaptability. It establishes the foundation for new pharmacy innovations such as telepharmacy, remote refills, and central-fill operations.
Snapshot of capabilities
- Multi-channel communication via online portals for timely refills and proactive alerts
- Seamless, paperless cross-institution medication refills with standardised multilingual labels
- IT-OT integration with robotic dispensers to free up manpower and increase accuracy
- Automated calculation of medication balances and system alerts to minimise errors
- Configurable end-to-end workflow tracking for transparency and adaptability
- Standardised medication information integrated with 8 national health systems
The impact
NHIPS has delivered measurable improvements such as:
- For Patients: Faster access to medication and seamless refills
- For Pharmacist and healthcare professionals: Streamlined workflows for over 4,300 staff, automated reconciliation, fewer errors, and increased operational transparency
- For the nation: Centralised and standardised that improves interoperability, supports scalable initiatives and enables evidence-based planning