KUALA LUMPUR, June 20 — The Ministry of Health (MOH) will implement the integrated expansion of the Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system nationwide through cloud deployment in 2026.
Its deputy minister Lukanisman Awang Sauni said that presently MOH is implementing an EMR pilot project in Negeri Sembilan which involves the expansion of the EMR system via cloud deployment to all ministry’s facilities, the development of an integrated health information sharing platform and the expansion of integration to all MOH facilities as well as the development of virtual clinics in the state.
“Through the EMR pilot project in Negeri Sembilan, the government will be able to manage the risks of implementing the EMR initiative such as facility preparedness factors including electricity supply, ICT infrastructure and other facility upgrade requirements.
“In addition, policies related to the services involved can be strengthened as well as other requirements such as increasing human resources and the level of competence in the EMR system,” he said during a question and answer session at the Dewan Negara today.
He said this in his reply to a question from Senator Dr A. Lingeshwaran who asked why it was necessary to wait until 2026 to start the EMR initiative when many countries already have such a system in place and why a pilot project was still needed.
Lukanisman said the EMR initiative had been implemented since the Sixth Malaysia Plan (6MP) through the implementation of patient information systems in hospitals and health clinics as well as the implementation of various clinical support systems such as radiology information systems, laboratory information systems and pharmacy information systems.
He said thus far, 41 out of 149 MOH hospitals and 103 out of 1,086 MOH health clinics have a patient management system. A total of 31 out of 704 MOH dental clinics have a patient management system. — Bernama
