EMR system to be extended within three years

KUALA LUMPUR, March 26 (Bernama) -- The Health Ministry plans to implement the Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system in stages to all hospitals and clinics throughout the country within the next three years, said its minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad.

He said to date, 25 per cent of 145 hospitals under the ministry had used the information technology system, including the EMR, to treat patients.

“In line with developments in medical technology, the ministry has implemented digital or electronic methods of recording patients’ information in several hospitals and health clinics...the government is working to be on par with the medical technology in hospitals in neighbouring countries and in the region.

“With the EMR, the process of sharing and transferring patients’ information will be easier...the information is not cut off and will move with the patient when he is treated in any of our clinics or hospitals,” he said during the Ministers’ Question Time at the Dewan Rakyat today.

Dr Dzulkefly was replying to a question from Datuk Dr Hasan Bahrom (PH-Tampin) who asked if the ministry planned to use the digital or electronic mode of recording patients’ information like in neighbouring countries such as Singapore and Thailand, so that the public can access their information at any health facility in the country.

He added that a working paper on the EMR had been completed.

-- BERNAMA