singapore flag Singapore, Republic of Singapore

“Driving better decision-making in healthcare, to improve patient outcomes and healthcare value in Singapore”
Dr. Daphne Khoo, Executive Director, ACE

 

History and Structure

The Agency for Care Effectiveness (ACE) was established by the Ministry of Health, Singapore in 2015 to drive better decision-making in healthcare through health technology assessment (HTA), clinical guidance and education.

ACE is led by our Executive Director, Dr Daphne Khoo, and comprises four branches:

  • The Health Technology Evaluation, Utilisation Review and Adoption (HTA) branch conducts health technology assessments for drugs, vaccines, gene therapies and medical technologies, and develops guidances to encourage adoption of health technology recommendations by public healthcare institutions. It conducts value-based pricing negotiations with manufacturers to ensure that prices of patented health technologies are commensurate with the outcomes that these treatments deliver to patients and the Singapore health system. It also undertakes utilisation review and outcomes evaluation to systematically measure the impact of HTA in Singapore. Since 2021, companies have been able to submit evidence to inform subsidy decisions for cancer drugs under the company-led submission process.
  • The Evidence to Practice Office supports healthcare professionals and patients in effective, evidence-based care through the development and implementation of clinical guidances as well as professional and patient education initiatives.
  • The Planning and Policy branch oversees the strategic planning, corporate finance and administration, as well as the local and international collaborations for ACE’s development. The branch also formulates and executes marketing and communication strategies to build ACE’s brand and credibility as a trusted source of information for both healthcare providers and patients, and develops and implements adoption strategies to drive the uptake of ACE medical technology guidance by collaborating with internal and external stakeholders.
  • The Consumer Engagement and Education branch supports patient involvement in ACE’s work, drives desired consumer behaviours, and develops plain English summaries and educational resources to improve health literacy and encourage shared decision-making between patients and their doctors about their healthcare.

Mission

ACE’s mission is to issue objective and credible healthcare guidance, enable stakeholders to make better-informed choices, and drive evidence-based practice.

How ACE Works

ACE systematically evaluates health technologies, such as drugs, vaccines, gene therapies and medical technologies, using established HTA methods. This includes using analytical frameworks and drawing on clinical, epidemiological and health economic information to determine how to best allocate Singapore’s limited healthcare resources. ACE also negotiates prices for health technologies under evaluation with manufacturers based on proven outcomes to determine what fair prices should be. ACE’s evaluations equip policy makers in the Ministry of Health, Singapore, with objective and credible evidence to guide national subsidy decisions on health technologies, so that patients have access to good value care earlier.

ACE publishes concise, evidence-based clinical guidances to inform specific areas of clinical practice and serve as a common starting point nationally for clinical decision-making. In addition, ACE provides continuing professional education on evidence for clinical decision-making through different engagements and activities. ACE also provides resources, training and educational materials for healthcare consumers to improve health literacy and encourage shared decision-making between patients and their doctors about their healthcare.

Dissemination Activities

Information dissemination is fundamental to maximising the impact of ACE’s work. ACE uses various forms of engagement strategies to reach out to stakeholders for their feedback and support at critical touch points during the HTA process from evaluation to implementation. This includes scoping workshops, mass briefings and roadshows, one-to-one consultations, circulars and publication of guidances and educational resources on the ACE website.

Completed HTA Reports

The methods and processes that are used to guide ACE’s evaluations of drugs and medical technologies, and information on completed HTA evaluations, clinical guidances and subsidy recommendations, may be obtained at our website (www.ace-hta.gov.sg).

Current Projects (A Selection)

Information on completed HTA evaluations including horizon scanning briefs for medical technologies, clinical guidances and educational resources may be obtained at our website (www.ace-hta.gov.sg).

 

Agency Information

Country: Singapore
Description of population served: National
Population served (mil): 5.45 million (as of Jun 2021)
Current HTA budget (mil USD): NA
Permanent staff: 80
Consultants: 2
Ongoing TA projects: Variable year on year

Contact Information

Director: Dr. Daphne Khoo
Contact person: Ms. Aurelia Tan

Ministry of Health
College of Medicine Building
16 College Road
Singapore 169854

Internet:www.ace-hta.gov.sg

Email: ACE_HTA@moh.gov.sg