Opportunity to tap into telemedicine

THE new directive in the enhanced movement control order (MCO) that only one driver and no passengers are allowed in private cars as well as the restriction of travel within a 10km radius of one’s residence will significantly affect the accessibility and delivery of healthcare services to non-Covid-19 patients.

A lot of patients who cannot drive, are not savvy with the e-hailing service or fear being near hospitals and clinics during this pandemic have avoided or postponed their regular follow-up for their chronic diseases.

Some have also delayed seeking health consultations for what they consider as “mild” illness. We know that this will have potential complications or worse outcomes for the patients concerned.

As we focus on fighting the Covid-19 pandemic, we should also not neglect the need to manage the ongoing healthcare requirements of our people, which are actually the main bulk of the disease burden of our country.

Now is the right time for us to tap into digital technology and allow telemedicine to be practised by registered healthcare professionals. Prior to this pandemic, we had held discussions with the relevant authority about this subject but were advised that telemedicine is illegal and only limited to pilot studies in some government healthcare institutions.

Yet we are seeing the mushrooming of telemedicine platforms in Malaysia and our neighbouring countries.

We can’t deny the importance of physical examination as part of the medical consultation of a patient. For a start, for safety purposes, we can allow teleconsults for triage and follow-up cases.

As for the regulatory structure, we can refer to other countries for guidelines, including the National Telemedicine Guidelines of Singapore and the American Telemedicine Association (ATA).

This can solve the immediate medical needs of our patients while bringing healthcare to the door of patients. This is also in line with our Malaysian healthcare transformation vision.

Dr Tan Hui Ling

Penang