Medical Practitioners Allowed To Provide Basic Information On Services

KUALA LUMPUR, June 28 (Bernama) -- Medical practitioners and health institutions are now allowed to provide basic information on their services and facilities.

Health Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek announced Tuesday that they could now provide basic information according to disciplines, names, places of practice and credentials but without mentioning experiences or using superlatives.

The information, together with photographs of the practitioners or institutions, could be conveyed through websites, yellow pages and the newspapers, he told reporters after opening the Association of Private Hospitals Malaysia (APHM) Healthcare Conference at Seri Kembangan, near here.

"However, we still require such information to be submitted for vetting and approval by the Malaysian Medical Advertisement Board," he said.

The decision, which takes immediate effect, was made after consultations with the board, the Malaysian Medical Council, medical associations and medical academics, to promote health tourism in the country, he added.

Currently, medical practitioners and health institutions are forbidden to make any statements that would draw attention to themselves or their practices.

Dr Chua said that with the guidelines loosened up, the medical practitioners and health institutions still had to seek approval from the Malaysian Medical Advertisement Board before being allowed to provide basic information on their services.

Anyone found providing the information without prior approval from the board could risk their practices being suspended for several years, he said.

Dr Chua also explained that patients were allowed to access their medical reports, which are summarised reports their medical records if they wanted to seek treatment at a private hospital after being treated at the government hospital, or vice versa.

However, copies of the medical records could only be released for medico-legal cases.

Patients could forward their complaints to the ministry if they were unable to get their medical reports from the hospitals or clinics, he said.

Dr Chua also said that he expected the review by a consultant from the World Health Organisation (WHO) on the patient safety strategies prepared by the Patient Safety Council Malaysia to be finalised by next month.

-- BERNAMA

The best advertisement a doctor can have are some good words from a well treated and satisfied patient. Nothing beats word-of-mouth.