Speaking at the KL Startup Summit 2021, Senior Deputy Director of the Planning Division at Ministry of Health Malaysia (MoH), Dr Fazilah Shaik Allaudin has highlighted that technology adoption and innovation introduced by startups will improve the Malaysian healthcare system.
On April 2, 2020, MoH introduced the Online Appointment System in public health clinics, a collaboration between MoH and four telehealth companies, Queuemed, EncoreMed, BookDoc and DoctorOnCall.
This is an initiative to reduce congestion in health clinics especially during the current Covid-19 situation and in line with social distancing practices.
Through the Online Appointment System, patients can select appointment slots for their treatment or other related services. This system is only available for patients with minor conditions or diseases on a walk-in basis.
“Skills are the most important building blocks in a post-outbreak world. For that, we [MoH] have recognised the health startup ecosystem and the rapid growth of innovation which is happening in real time.
The collaboration opens up new ways in handling the Covid-19 crisis such as the introduction of the Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Robotics. It shows how humankind can achieve many strong feats when we work together” she said.
The Telemedicine Act (Laws of Malaysia, 1997) was enacted to regulate and control the practice of telemedicine and other connected matters.
Additionally, it covers who can practice telemedicine, how to apply to practice telemedicine, and the setting of telemedicine practice standards.
