Public hospitals go for Full Pay Patient plan

GEORGE TOWN: Major public hospitals nationwide will be implementing a Full Pay Patient programme for the rich and foreigners, to help retain their specialists.

Deputy Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Hilmi Yahaya said the programme won’t impact the other people, who would still pay only RM1 for medical treatment.

“The programme is only for those who can afford to pay and is a way to help retain specialists at public hospitals,” he said here yesterday.

It was introduced in 2007 and is an ongoing process to make as many hospitals as possible opt for it. Among the hospitals which opted for the programme is the Langkawi Hospital.

From the money collected from each surgery or medical process, 40% is given to the hospital while the remainder is for the specialist in charge.

“We hope that with this programme, specialists will stay with us instead of resigning and moving to private health institutions,” said Dr Hilmi.

Patients who opt for the programme can choose their own doctor and time for any surgical procedures. However, this can only be on holidays and non-peak periods.

The programme only caters to 30% of the total patients in a hospital and the charges are half that of private hospitals. — Bernama