We dream of an electronic medical record system

TWENTY years ago Malaysia started to build its own home-grown electronic medical record (EMR) system. The Teleprimary Care (TPC) application package was launched in 1997; in 2015 it became the as TPC-OHCIS (Oral Health Clinical Information System). Yet to date, only 8%, or about 90 out of 1,080, of public health clinics have been electronically connected with the system.

In July this year, Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said that the government would use up to RM1.5bil to fully implement an EMR system in all government hospitals and clinics in Malaysia over the next five years. Since then, however, we have yet to hear any updates.