Upgrade computer system at govt hospitals, doctors' group says

The Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) has called for improvements to public health information technology (IT) systems, following MalaysiaNow's report on problems caused by the use of computer software over 20 years old at government hospitals and clinics. 

MMA, which brings together more than 10,000 doctors of different backgrounds and specialties, said Malaysia should be equipped with the latest software in line with the rapid advances in technology. 

"We need to be up to date, especially if there are plans to implement electronic medical records and incorporate more digital conveniences in healthcare," the association's president Dr Muruga Raj told MalaysiaNow. 

MalaysiaNow previously reported that some computers at government hospitals were still running on Windows 2000 and software with expired licences, resulting in delays and lag time for doctors in their work. 

Doctors also spoke of difficulty accessing patient data due to slow servers which they said only compounded their workloads. 

Even health records were said to be inaccessible due to a lack of standardisation under a uniform system, with hospitals forced to prioritise busier departments in the provision of computers with the latest software. 

Dr Muruga Raj said the digitisation of the public sector was key to making decisions based on data. 

"By capturing each touchpoint of a patient's journey, there can be better sustainable objective planning," he said. 

He added that the expenditure for upgrading the digitisation infrastructure for the public health sector should not come from the health budget, saying it should instead receive a separate allocation as part of the country's digitalisation agenda.

He likewise urged the government to consider private financing initiatives in its pursuit of technological change. 

"Regular upgrades are needed," he said. 

Deputy Health Minister Lukanisman Awang Sauni recently said that the government intended to make the MySejahtera application, developed during the Covid-19 pandemic, a "super application" for public healthcare.