With Malaysia independence in 1957, development in the country changed from system maintenance to development planning. Environmental and health perspectives are discussed in relation to current development as reflected in the Second Malaysia Plan 1971--1975 and the Third Malaysia Plan 1976--1980.
Matched MeSH terms: National Health Programs/organization & administration*
Malaysia's experience in implementing the Integrated Telehealth Project has placed her way ahead in the arena of world Telehealth. Thus, she has become the focus point, reference point and benchmark for similar endeavors around the world. In fact, it would not be presumptuous to state that the Integrated Telehealth project is a trail-blazing pioneer with e-leadership experience and skills developed over the last few years. It is hoped that the Integrated Telehealth concept will find acceptance and credence globally.
Matched MeSH terms: National Health Programs/organization & administration*
Telehealth and telemedicine are increasingly becoming accepted practices in Asia, but challenges remain in deploying these services to the farthest areas of many developing countries. With the increasing popularity of universal health coverage, there is a resurgence in promoting telehealth services. But while telehealth that reaches the remotest part of a nation is the ideal endpoint, such goals are burdened by various constraints ranging from governance to funding to infrastructure and operational efficiency.
Matched MeSH terms: National Health Programs/organization & administration*
Within the current exercise of reforming the health care system, underlying all issues, is the reassessment of the role of government. It is a government's responsibility and concern that the health sector be accessible and equitable to the population, and more important that the health sector be more efficient and affordable. Many governments in the world attempt to provide universal health care services to their population through public health care provisions. This paper reviews and analyses the experience of the Malaysian health system, focusing on the performance of the system in relation to access and equity. The performance of the Malaysian health system has been impressive. At minimum cost it has achieved virtually accessible and equitable health care to the entire population. This is evident by analysing almost all the commonly used indicators. These clearly show that when matched to comparable countries, health outcome is even better than predicted value.
Matched MeSH terms: National Health Programs/organization & administration*
This paper considers the subject of managed care in Malaysia, providing a questionnaire-based analysis of the position adopted by private medical practitioners. Managed care is now seen as the dominant health care system in the United States, with many other countries around the world including Malaysia beginning to selectively use component parts to tackle particular health care problems. In this survey it was found that three out of four respondents have concerns regarding the implementation of managed care. The survey was used to identify and categorise these concerns. At the same time, three out of four respondents held the opinion that principles of managed care were already a reality or would be in the next 5 years. This group expressed an eagerness to be trained in managed care principles and be given the opportunity to be part of managed care organisations. It is argued that clinicians' knowledge and interest perceptions are an important influence on the implementation of managed care based systems. The survey-based evidence presented in this article is intended as a measure of current understandings and beliefs, in relation to clinical micro-management process associated with managed care.
Matched MeSH terms: National Health Programs/organization & administration*