Singapore General Hospital Expands Home-Based Hospital Care Services

Singapore General Hospital (SGH) is expanding its home-based care services by increasing capacity within its Mobile Inpatient Care @ Home (MIC@Home) program. This initiative allows teams of doctors, nurses, and allied health professionals to manage suitable patients in their own homes through a combination of teleconsultations and home visits.

The MIC@Home program provides an alternative for patients who would otherwise require admission to an acute hospital. The Ministry of Health (MOH) stated that the service will be offered to patients assessed by clinical teams as needing acute care that can be safely delivered at home. Conditions suitable for this model include those with established treatment plans, such as dengue fever, cellulitis, gastroenteritis, and urinary tract infections, which may involve intravenous medication or fluids.

As of March 2025, there are approximately 200 MIC@Home beds across all public acute hospitals, a nearly twofold increase from 104 beds in January 2024. SGH, which participated in a two-year MIC@Home pilot before its mainstream adoption in April 2024, plans to scale up its capacity from the current 30 virtual beds to between 40 and 60 within a year.

Future plans include the upcoming Eastern General Hospital offering virtual wards in 2026 before its physical facility opens in 2029. The Institute of Mental Health (IMH) is also planning a pilot for a MIC@Home model for psychiatric patients within one to two years. Professor Lee Chien Earn, SingHealth's deputy group CEO (regional health system), expressed a goal for MIC@Home to become a preferred care option for suitable patients by 2030.