Patients nationwide will no longer have to pay for medicines delivered through the Medicine Through the Post (UMP) service, with the government set to fully cover the delivery costs from October 1.
Communications Minister Datuk Seri Fahmi Fadzil said the initiative, funded through RM5 million from the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), is part of efforts to strengthen Malaysia’s digital healthcare system.
He said the move complements the successful implementation of the National Digital Health Connectivity and Ecosystem Driver (PERSADA) initiative, which has significantly reduced patients’ waiting times.
“Perlis, which has been the pilot state for the past four months, has benefited more than 200,000 patients. More than 86 per cent of patients were able to see a doctor within 60 minutes, while 62.8 per cent were seen within 30 minutes,” he said.
Fahmi was speaking after visiting the implementation of the PERSADA initiative at the Padang Besar Health Clinic on Saturday.
He attributed the improvement to the centralised use of Electronic Medical Records (EMR) through a cloud-based system managed by Telekom Malaysia.
The integration of patient data allows doctors to access medical records more quickly, while reducing the need for patients to repeatedly fill out forms when seeking treatment at different healthcare facilities.
Fahmi also said 17 National Information Dissemination Centres (NADI) in Perlis have now been integrated with telehealth services as part of efforts to expand access to healthcare.
“Residents can carry out certain services at NADI, such as routine health screenings, without having to visit a health clinic. This close cooperation between NADI and health clinics will eventually be expanded nationwide,” he said.
The government is also studying the use of drones to deliver medicines to rural communities, with Sabah among the areas where the initiative has previously been explored.
To support the wider digitalisation of the public healthcare system, the government increased its allocation in August from RM650 million to RM1 billion to upgrade medical devices and ensure internet speeds of at least 100Mbps across the public healthcare network.
