SINGAPORE, July 14, 2026
The National University Hospital (NUH) has announced plans to significantly expand its use of wearable smartwatch technology for inpatient monitoring following a successful clinical pilot demonstrating that continuous wearable monitoring can detect changes in patients’ vital signs up to two hours earlier than conventional manual observations. The initiative represents an important milestone in the hospital’s digital healthcare transformation strategy, combining wearable medical technology, continuous patient monitoring, and clinical decision support to improve patient safety while enhancing healthcare efficiency. Following the month-long pilot, which concluded in June 2026, NUH aims to have up to 10% of suitable inpatient vital sign monitoring supported by wearable technology over the coming year. Conducted by the NUH Department of Surgery in collaboration with researchers from the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore (NUS Medicine), the study demonstrated that smartwatch-based monitoring could provide clinicians with earlier warning of physiological deterioration while reducing unnecessary disruptions to recovering patients and allowing nurses to devote more time to direct patient care requiring clinical expertise.
Wearable Technology Improves Early Detection and Patient Safety
The pilot evaluated Health Sciences Authority (HSA)-approved smartwatches capable of continuously monitoring blood pressure, pulse rate, and blood oxygen saturation in post-surgical patients. Throughout the study, nurses continued routine bedside observations while simultaneously validating abnormal smartwatch readings using standard clinical equipment before initiating established escalation protocols. The findings demonstrated that no critical clinical events were missed, while wearable monitoring successfully identified abnormal vital signs up to two hours earlier than scheduled manual assessments. During the pilot, the smartwatch detected 14 episodes of low systolic blood pressure, two episodes of elevated blood pressure, one episode of bradycardia, and one episode of reduced blood oxygen saturation, enabling prompt nursing intervention before any patient experienced clinical deterioration. These results reinforce the growing role of digital health technologies in supporting earlier intervention while maintaining high standards of patient safety within hospital environments.
Smart Monitoring Enhances Patient Experience and Nursing Efficiency
Beyond clinical performance, the wearable monitoring programme demonstrated meaningful improvements in patient comfort and healthcare workflow efficiency. Patients wearing smartwatches experienced fewer overnight disruptions because continuous monitoring reduced the need for repeated bedside vital sign checks during recovery. Only 7% of patients using wearable monitoring reported sleep interruptions related to routine observations, compared with 17% of patients receiving conventional monitoring, supporting improved recovery conditions following surgery. The pilot also highlighted significant workflow benefits for nursing teams. Routine manual vital sign collection currently requires approximately two minutes per patient, including documentation. NUH now plans to integrate wearable data directly into its EPIC electronic medical record system, reducing documentation time to approximately 40 seconds per observation through automated recording. This innovation will allow nurses to dedicate more time to complex patient assessments, individualized care, and clinical decision-making rather than repetitive administrative tasks.
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Digital Innovation Shapes the Future of Hospital Care
The successful pilot represents an important step toward integrating wearable medical devices, digital health platforms, and continuous physiological monitoring into routine inpatient care. Hospital leaders emphasized that the technology is designed to support—not replace—clinical judgement, providing healthcare professionals with earlier insights into patient recovery while preserving established clinical safety protocols. As NUH expands wearable monitoring across additional patient populations, the hospital will continue evaluating its effectiveness in diverse clinical settings to maximize patient outcomes and operational efficiency. The initiative reflects a broader healthcare trend toward technology-enabled precision care, where connected medical devices, real-time health data, and intelligent monitoring systems improve both patient safety and hospital performance. By combining wearable technology, electronic medical records, and continuous monitoring, NUH is helping define a new model of inpatient care that enhances early detection, supports faster clinical response, improves patient experience, and strengthens the delivery of modern healthcare through digital innovation.
Source: National University Hospital press release
