Malaysia to roll out electronic medical record system in fight against counterfeit drugs

Only 20% of hospitals currently have this capability.

Malaysia is raring to implement an electronic medical record system (EMR) in all hospitals to root out counterfeit drugs and solve other healthcare problems, health minister Dr. Dzulkefly Ahmad revealed.

Ahmad stated that the technology is currently available in just one in five Malaysian hospitals, adding that the Ministry of Health’s goal is to implement the system in all 145 hospitals within three years.

Speaking at the recently concluded HIMSS Eurasia Conference in Istanbul, Ahmad reflected on his goal of digitizing Malaysian healthcare.

“We need a hospital technology system that is end-to-end. I've realized that we need to think not just better, but differently. We need clear deliverables within a certain timeline. Of the 144 hospitals, only a small number have EMR in place. And it the number is even smaller for clinics,” he said.

“We cannot solve this problem a piecemeal manner. We must approach them methodologically,” he added.