Development of Telemedicine in Malaysia

Malaysia is committed to create a new healthy nation which include every single Malaysian citizen. The development of telemedicine in Malaysia has increases over the past few years. Several initiative to change telemedicine into healthcare delivery system of the country had been introduced. The function of telemedicine is to go beyond the traditional method of healthcare but still able to provide healthcare even there is problem of distance involved. One of the main development is the MSC Flagship Application that will ensure that all Malaysian citizen able to enjoy high quality of healthcare and it also support Malaysia to become one of the global hub for telemedicine.This application will be implemented over 5 year period and it will provide the most ideal environment due to its technology infrastructure.It will be tested from the inside and outside of MSC at several sites. The telemedicine project, which started in October 2000 aims to develop four key projects with the aim of providing equitable, accessible and high quality healthcare services. The projects are :

1. Mass Customised Personalised Health Information and Education (MSPHIE)

2. Continuing Medical Education

3.Teleconsultation

4. Lifetime Health Plan

For the first project, the function is to provide information and education about health content in regard to mass and specific community by using the nternet, multimedia technologies and mass communications. By using this application, they may take care of their own health. The services which were provided include information, advice, education and so on. Mass Customised Personalised Health Information and Education (MSPHIE) will have access to the Lifetime Health Plan which include a component that will assess a person’s risk of developing certain illnesses and give reports to advise them on prevention and lifestyle habits. It will be accessible since it used the Internet and it provide 24 hours of access to the information.

For the second project, it is an infrastructural project in order to build human resources. Besides providing information, it also will enhance the capability of healthcare providers. It will maintain, develop and inclrease the skills and quality provided by the healthcare toward their patients. It combines virtual learning about quality health education as easy as clicking on a few buttons to gather information such as OVID medical journals, the online version of Harrison's textbook, government health reports, local and international databases and links to accredited websites. The purpose of CME is for the health and medical practise to perform better.

For the third project its function is to connect healthcare providers in a multipoint place in order to share opinions.The success factors include large number of users, faster services, lower costs and the extent of accessibility to the homes of individuals.

For the fourth project, it is the most complex and encompassing.It main focused is on the patients itself based on the lifetime health record. It will integrating the information in the lifetime health record to develop personalised lifetime health plans for each individual. It main goal is the PLHP (Personalised Lifetime Health Plan) which consists of computer generated healthcare plan which focus on the with the specific health needs of an individual. The main components of LHP are:

• CSS (Clinical Support System) - to manage a healthcare facility's administrative and clinical process.

• PLHP (Personalised Lifetime Health Plan) - to deliver Health Plans and Care Plans

• GDS (Group Data Services) - to deliver data mining services and generate relevant reports

As a conclusion, telemedicine in Malaysia had show progress over the years. Perhaps more projects regarding telemedicine will be introduced and continue for the purpose of healthcare for the Malaysian citizen.