New rule good for healthcare services

Star: PETALING JAYA: The Health Ministry requirement for all private healthcare providers to report deaths resulting from anaesthetic, medical and surgical procedures will turn Malaysia into a premier medical tourism hub in the region.
Association of Private Hospitals Malaysia (APHM) president Datuk Dr Jacob Thomas said the requirement would make Malaysia’s public and private healthcare services on par with those of developed countries.
“This requirement is good for the country. APHM is fully supportive of this because we are championing medical tourism and ensuring patient safety,” he said in response to Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai’s announcement on Thursday that all private healthcare providers must send an incident report to the ministry’s director-general Tan Sri Dr Ismail Merican within 72 hours of such deaths.
Dr Thomas noted that the low maternal and infant mortality rate in Malaysia was in keeping with the World Health Organisation’s own standards for determining the health status of a country.
“We are seeing a lot of foreigners coming to Malaysia for treatment and they are amazed by the quality of our healthcare services.”
He said the reporting of assessable deaths from anaesthetic, medical and surgical procedures had been implemented since the Private Healthcare Facilities and Services Act was passed in 1998 and its accompanying regulations in 2006. However, a standard format had yet to be formulated by the ministry.
In making the announcement, Liow had also said that Dr Ismail would meet with all private healthcare companies to brief them on the government’s requirements in incident reports and their implementation.