Passion for strategic and managerial planning

Dr Terence Tan, Founder – Enable Healthcare and Co-founder – Talenos Pte. Ltd.

Enable Healthcare Pte. Ltd. dedicates to total healthcare solutions for healthcare providers and patients. Dr. Terence Tan, is also the co-founder of Talenos Pte. Ltd., a bespoke talent acquisition firm focused on the healthcare industry. His current clinical work focuses on family and occupational medicine, additionally his special interests include nutrition, manpower, recruitment, data analysis, systems modeling and streamlined healthcare technology.

After working in the NHS hospitals in England, he moved back to Singapore where he spent a number of years in the Government Hospitals eventually leaving for the private primary care sector in 2012. He worked as the assistant medical director for a large group with a fantastic team. It was in this role that he developed a passion for strategic and managerial planning.

Dr. Tan qualified from Imperial College of Medicine, London with an MBBS and BSc in Immunology. His postgraduate experience includes clinical, administrative and management roles in the public and private healthcare sector in Singapore and the UK. He is a registered family physician and designated workplace doctor having obtained post graduate diplomas in family and occupational medicine.

He struck out on his own to form Enable Healthcare, which provides consultancy services and manpower solutions. He helped to oversee clinical service delivery and physician performance, quality and resources of Parkway Shenton for more than 20 clinics. This included development of strategic capabilities in Parkway Shenton in response to and in anticipation of primary care demands, oversight of clinical and service quality management, implementation and enforcement of quality improvement, management of client feedback and optimizing corporate healthcare solutions through innovation and sound clinical guidelines. He worked with interbusiness departments in businesses development, corporate sales, human resource allocation, talent acquisition, corporate and governmental client engagement, business analytics, planning and operationalisation.

Dr. Tan shares some more insights from his journey with team ABT.

What inspires you most as a Healthcare Consultant?
As a Healthcare Consultant, I draw inspiration from patients. They are the reason we continuously improve and strive for greater standards in order to develop better medical care.

Do you feel Healthcare Companies in Asia differ from other markets? Tell us more.
Yes, Healthcare Companies in Asia differ from other markets in that we tend to operate more independently of Governmental services than in say, Europe. However, this is changing with the rise in healthcare spending, rise of chronic illness, increased life expectancy and an ageing population. With increasing healthcare reforms, Healthcare Companies across Asia are adapting to address challenges in meeting demand for more chronic care, in pricing and integrating with public sector initiatives and reimbursement policies.

Do you recall any one proud moment / milestone from your professional journey?
I think as for most physicians, it is the day I qualified as a physician! It was culmination of all the efforts from my youth and whilst obtaining further qualification have been important milestones, qualifying from medical school is definitely the most memorable.

Digital Marketing & IT has impacted every sector today. How do these influence your business?
IT has allowed a more efficient administration of logistics, analysis of performance and medical information. The challenge is to effective integrate the key advantages with a user friendly and easy interface for front line staff, as well as developing the right tools and algorithms in the analysis of increasing amounts of data.

Tell us about some of the challenges that you face & how do you overcome them?
At present, the main challenge is in reconciling the core values in healthcare which have been enshrined by previous generations of physician with the realities of modern healthcare structures. This includes the judicious use of technology melded to traditional analysis and a human touch.

What would you like to achieve in the next 3 years?
I would like to be able to address the challenges in technology and combine this with traditional skills and values to empower Enable Healthcare to provide unique and outstanding consultancy and manpower solutions for Healthcare Firms.

Watch Dr. Terence share his views at the Icons of Healthcare Summit by BERG Singapore.