Nursing Home Websites: HCSA Rules, Visit Booking, Family Updates

HCSA licensing: what it means for your website

Nursing homes are licensed under the Healthcare Services Act 2020. MOH's regulatory forum slides for nursing homes explain that existing nursing homes had their PHMCA licences transferred to an HCSA Nursing Home Service licence in Phase 3, on 18 December 2023. Licensees must comply with the Act, the General Regulations, service-specific regulations and the Advertisement Regulations.

For the website, two things follow. First, everything you publish to promote the home counts as advertising under those regulations. Second, if you also hold other HCSA licences, such as for outpatient medical services, each service's description must be accurate about what is licensed. See MOH's HCSA overview.

Advertising rules: what you can and can't say

The Healthcare Services (Advertisement) Regulations 2021 set the limits. Regulation 5 requires information to be factual and capable of substantiation, and bans laudatory statements, superlatives and misleading content. Regulation 14 restricts reviews and endorsements to limited settings.

Our clinic advertising rules guide explains the same regulations in more detail, and our home care agency website guide covers the related home care sector.

Charges, subsidies and financial counselling

Cost is usually a family's first question. MOH's nursing home slides set out what licensees must do on charges: tell residents or prospective residents the applicable charges, including administrative fees, on request; display or make available the charges on admission, covering monthly charges and other items such as consumables, transport and medications; conduct and record financial counselling before providing the service; and inform residents or next-of-kin before fee changes take effect.

A website that publishes the same information openly saves staff time and builds trust.

On subsidies, MOH's residential long-term care subsidies page says that since 1 July 2026, Singapore Citizens can receive up to 75% subsidy, or up to 80% if born in 1969 or earlier, and Permanent Residents up to 50%. Link to that page rather than restating the rules, so your site never shows outdated figures.

Visit booking and enquiries

Families want to see a home before deciding, and existing residents' families want to plan visits around activities and meals. An online booking page reduces phone calls and lets you manage visitor numbers.

1. 1

   Separate show-round tours from family visits

   Tours for prospective families need a staff member; regular visits may only need a time slot and a visitor count.

2. 2

   Set slot capacity by area

   Limit visitors per ward or common area at the same time, and block out meal and rest times.

3. 3

   Collect only what you need

   Visitor name, contact number and resident being visited. Don't ask for NRIC numbers online unless a law requires it.

4. 4

   Send confirmations and reminders

   Include visiting rules, parking and what to do if the visitor feels unwell.

5. 5

   Keep a phone option

   Many visitors are older themselves; never make online booking the only route.

Family updates without breaking privacy

Families value photos and news about their parent. But information about a resident's health, behaviour or daily care is personal data under the PDPA, and photos in shared group chats can reach people the resident never agreed to.

• Ask at admission which family members may receive updates, and through which channel.
• Record photo consent separately for care updates, internal use and public marketing.
• Use a family portal or individual messages, not large groups, for anything about a specific resident.
• Keep CCTV for safety and security, with notices and access rules; see our CCTV and PDPA guide.

Accessible design for older visitors

Many visitors are seniors themselves, or reading on a phone in a hospital corridor. The international standard is WCAG; W3C's WCAG overview explains the levels, and AA is the usual target.

In practice: body text at least 16 pixels, strong contrast, large tap targets, phone number and address on every page, no auto-playing video, and plain words instead of jargon like "step-down care" without explanation. Our website accessibility guide has a full checklist.

Do it yourself or get help?

An operator can draft the content (services, charges, visiting rules, admission steps) in-house; that is the hardest part to outsource. The technical side, accessibility, booking and consent handling are where outside help saves time.

Our Business Website (S$1,490) builds an accessible site with factual service pages and a charges section. The Online Booking System (S$390) adds tour and visit booking with reminders, and the PDPA Compliance Pack (S$690) prepares consent forms for photos and family updates, plus your privacy notice.