KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s Telemedicine Blueprint, an initiative launched in July 1997 by the government to lead healthcare into the information age, is set to take off after 19 years, thanks to more affordable medical technology.
According to Collaborative Research in Engineering, Science & Technology research and programme director Dr Khoh Soo Beng, when it takes off, it may change the landscape of the healthcare industry, particularly how bricks-and-mortar hospitals operate.
He sees traditional healthcare providers embracing telemedicine as part of their practice.
“Traditional hospitals can view the use of technology as an enabler to provide better service to their existing clients. If done properly, telemedicine can enhance their profits. It will enable affordable, quality healthcare to all,” Khoh told The Edge Financial Daily in an interview.
However, some may view telemedicine as a disruptor in the healthcare industry. Telemedicine, described as “the use of technology to deliver healthcare services and information at a distance in order to improve access, quality and cost,” includes everything from videoconferencing and remote monitoring to telephone calls, email and texting.
Khoh said the country’s Telemedicine Blueprint did not take off the way it was expected to as medical technology was pricey back then. However, it is time the government revamped the healthcare system as technology gains momentum.
Dr Wong Chee Piau, chairman of the organising committee for this year’s Telemedicine Conference and associate professor of the Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Monash University Malaysia, concurred, saying telemedicine is likely to complement, rather than threaten traditional healthcare practices.
“Technology such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and information and communications technology (ICT) will enable more precise and better service to the patients. The better user experience will likely enhance the profitability of current healthcare service providers. For example, good data recording and measurement can be done online in real time by the patients themselves, eliminating the need for the hospital to spend time doing the prelim recording or measurement, ” Wong said in an email reply.
Indeed, both Khoh and Wong noted that healthcare costs, which have more than doubled in the last 50 years, is the key reason that Malaysians should embrace telemedicine.
“The global escalation in healthcare costs are compromising healthcare access and delivery, particularly in developing and underdeveloped countries,” Wong said, adding that the effective use of ICT can reduce healthcare costs as well as increase its effectiveness, availability and affordability.
According to him, healthcare expenditure in Malaysia is expected to double to US$25 billion (RM100.25 billion) in 2020 from US$12 billion in 2013.
“As telemedicine offers the possibility of healthcare services such as remote diagnosis, monitoring and treatment being delivered irrespective of the geographical boundary, [it] increases its availability and accessibility. Any effective healthcare solution via IoT can be mass-produced at reasonable cost,” Wong said.
“It will therefore decrease the current over-dependency on healthcare professionals, hence decreasing the impact of manpower shortage and escalating healthcare cost,” he said, adding that a well-coordinated and unified ecosystem in Malaysia will therefore allow the development of a healthy and competitive supporting healthcare industry.
Inequality is also an important issue in healthcare that can be resolved via telemedicine, said Wong. He noted that rural communities and remote population do not have access to quality healthcare as their urban counterparts.
“This [would] be particularly relevant in Malaysia where 35% of the Malaysian population live in rural areas with minimal access to healthcare,” he said.
Khoh is also of the view that telemedicine allows an opportunity to provide quality healthcare to all in a much more cost-effective manner.
“It is not easy to obtain healthcare in rural areas, especially in Sabah and Sarawak where patients have to commute [in] long journeys via riverboats, while for urban Malaysians, connected devices allow point of care to be at the home of the patient, hence minimising the commute to hospitals, especially on routine check-ups of chronic disease patients.
“With the advent of [the] IoT and big data as a technology enabler, this has presented an opportunity that Malaysia can leverage on, both in providing rural healthcare outreach, as well as enhancing urban healthcare towards prevention,” he added.
“IoT and big data are here to stay. Embrace these key enablers to realise affordable, quality and patient-centric quality health and wellness care for all,” Khoh noted.
After last year’s overwhelming response, Monash University Malaysia and the Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission are bringing the second edition of the Telemedicine Conference from Aug 16 to 18.
This year’s conference aims to bring together crucial stakeholders, such as policymakers, industries, academia, and medical providers to propel Malaysia into the information technology age.
Themed “Shaping Tomorrow’s Healthcare Today”, the conference will discuss Malaysia’s cutting edge in research and innovation, as well as provide a platform for collaborations among stakeholders.