Polyclinics are large primary care facilities that provide a broad range of outpatient medical care, including chronic disease management. However, patients are typically assigned to any available doctor from a common pool rather than a dedicated family physician. In 2014, a small team (“teamlet”) model was introduced within Singapore polyclinics to improve care for patients with chronic disease. The teamlet consisted of two family physicians, a nurse, and a care coordinator. A study comparing 22,632 teamlet patients with at least one chronic condition against 163,055 similar patients who received usual care from 2014 to 2021 found that the teamlet model was associated with decreased overall health care costs for people with chronic disease over six years. The savings came mainly from fewer hospital stays, and to a lesser extent, decreased specialist outpatient visits, and fewer emergency department visits. Primary care costs rose due to teamlet patients visiting the polyclinics more often. After five years, teamlet patients had diabetes foot screenings 16 percentage points more often and eye screenings 6 points more often than patients in usual care. Blood sugar, blood pressure and cholesterol in the teamlet model improved slightly.
Why It Matters: The findings from this study suggest that reorganizing existing staff into small teams can produce meaningful savings and improve care in high-volume primary care settings.
Assessing 5-Year Outcomes of a Teamlet Care Model in Singapore Polyclinics: A Matched Difference-in-Difference Analysis
Corresponding Author: Sabrina Kay Wye Wong, PhD, MBBS, MMed(FM), et al
NHG Polyclinics, NHG Health, Singapore
The Annals of Family Medicine
21-Sep-2026