KANGAR, Jan 14 (Bernama) -- Medical specialists in government hospitals will soon be allowed to charge fees for treating patients who are able to afford their services.
Deputy Health Minister Datuk Dr Abdul Latiff Ahmad said the scheme would be implemented in the Putrajaya Hospital and Selayang Hospital in Selangor as a pilot project.
If the effects were positive, it would be extended to specialists in all government hospitals, he told reporters after opening the RM100,000 Psychosocial Rehabilitation Unit building at the Beseri Health Centre here Friday.
"The charges would probably be similar to the fees in private hospitals and payments would be made directly to the specialists who provided the treatment," he said.
There are about 3,000 medical specialists out of the 9,000 doctors serving in government hospitals.
Dr Abdul Latiff also said the Health Ministry has formed a counselling team to help tsunami survivors in the country suffering from trauma caused by the disaster.
He said the counsellors would identify these survivors and, if necessary, experts would be assigned to provide psychological support and help them recover quickly to lead a normal life.
On the Psychosocial Rehabilitation Unit, he said it would provide follow-up treatment to mental patients with the help of their families and the local community.
He said the government planned to set up more such units which now existed only in Perlis, Kelantan, Kedah and Perak.
-- BERNAMA
This is not actually something new, it has been done in the past. Wonder if it would prove to be win-win-win this time around for the patient, the specialist and the MOH. But being in Boleh Land, one can expect that it will get abused in time to come.
The system used in the past allowed the specialist to have private patients and thereby increase his income. Over time it was found that the surgeons and the obgyns benefitted most while the other specialists were not making much more out of the system. So a portion of the gomen specialists was unsatisfied with the system. The other problem which cropped up was that non-private paying patients were disadvantaged as more time was being spent looking after the private patients. These patients were also getting earlier appointemnts for surgeries. So the system was eventually stopped and replaced with the fixed specialist allowance scheme.
As to how this newly transformed scheme will work, only time will tell as the MOH is keeping all info about this scheme under wraps. Anyway it will be tried out only in 2 hospitals ie Putrajaya Hospital and Selayang Hospital, presently.
The system used in the past allowed the specialist to have private patients and thereby increase his income. Over time it was found that the surgeons and the obgyns benefitted most while the other specialists were not making much more out of the system. So a portion of the gomen specialists was unsatisfied with the system. The other problem which cropped up was that non-private paying patients were disadvantaged as more time was being spent looking after the private patients. These patients were also getting earlier appointemnts for surgeries. So the system was eventually stopped and replaced with the fixed specialist allowance scheme.
As to how this newly transformed scheme will work, only time will tell as the MOH is keeping all info about this scheme under wraps. Anyway it will be tried out only in 2 hospitals ie Putrajaya Hospital and Selayang Hospital, presently.
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