Healthcare Sector In Malaysia Research Articles

Unveiling the Nexus Between Intellectual Capital Efficiency and Financial Performance in Malaysia's Healthcare Sector Amidst the Covid-19 Crisis

Unveiling the Nexus Between Intellectual Capital Efficiency and Financial Performance in Malaysia's Healthcare Sector Amidst the Covid-19 Crisis

A comparison between antibiotic utilisation in public and private community healthcare in Malaysia

BackgroundThere are two parallel systems in Malaysian primary healthcare services: government funded public primary care and privately-owned practices. While there have been several studies evaluating antibiotic utilisation in Malaysian public healthcare, there is a lack of literature on the use of antibiotics in the private sector. There is a dire need to evaluate the more recent performance of public vs. private community healthcare in Malaysia. As such, this study aimed at measuring and comparing the utilisation of antibiotics in the public and private community healthcare sectors of Malaysia in 2018–2021.MethodsThis study was a retrospective analysis of antibiotic utilisation in Malaysian primary care for the period of 1 January 2018 until 31 December 2021 using the nationwide pharmaceutical procurement and sales data from public and private health sectors. Rates of antibiotic utilisation were reported as Defined Daily Doses per 1000 inhabitants per day (DID) and stratified by antibiotic classes. The secondary analysis included proportions of AWaRe antibiotic category use for each sector and proportion of antibiotic utilisation for both sectors.ResultsThe overall national antibiotic utilisation for 2018 was 6.14 DID, increasing slightly to 6.56 DID in 2019, before decreasing to 4.54 DID in 2020 and 4.17 DID in 2021. Private primary care antibiotic utilisation was almost ten times higher than in public primary care in 2021. The public sector had fewer (four) antibiotic molecules constituting 90% of the total antibiotic utilisation as compared to the private sector (eight). Use of Access antibiotics in the public sector was consistently above 90%, while use of Access category antibiotics by the private sector ranged from 64.2 to 68.3%. Although use of Watch antibiotics in the private sector decreased over the years, the use of Reserve and ‘Not Recommended’ antibiotics increased slightly over the years.ConclusionAntibiotic consumption in the private community healthcare sector in Malaysia is much higher than in the public sector. These findings highlight the need for more rigorous interventions targeting both private prescribers and the public with improvement strategies focusing on reducing inappropriate and unnecessary prescribing.

Improving Employee Engagement Through HRM Practices in Public Hospitals

The objective of this study is to examine the relationship between Human Resource Management (HRM) practices and employee engagement within the context of nurses in public hospitals in Malaysia. Prior studies have investigated several factors that influence employee engagement in Malaysia. However, the present study specifically concentrates on examining the relationship between HRM practices and employee engagement. The study encompassed a sample of 330 nurses employed in public hospitals in Malaysia. Data analysis was performed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 25. The study revealed that the implementation of three specific HRM practices, namely career development, employee participation, and training and development, had a positive and significant effect on employee engagement. The findings have the potential to offer useful insights to decision-makers within healthcare organizations in Malaysia. Specifically, these insights can inform the development of effective HRM strategies aimed at enhancing employee engagement among nurses. Moreover, this study offers suggestions for future research and recommendations for the authorities to strengthen human resource policies pertaining to the healthcare sector in Malaysia.

Acceptance of a Text Messaging Vaccination Reminder and Recall System in Malaysia's Healthcare Sector: Extending the Technology Acceptance Model.

Malaysian healthcare institutions still use ineffective paper-based vaccination systems to manage childhood immunization schedules. This may lead to missed appointments, incomplete vaccinations, and outbreaks of preventable diseases among infants. To address this issue, a text messaging vaccination reminder and recall system named Virtual Health Connect (VHC) was studied. VHC simplifies and accelerates immunization administration for nurses, which may result in improving the completion and timeliness of immunizations among infants. Considering the limited research on the acceptance of these systems in the healthcare sector, we examined the factors influencing nurses' attitudes and intentions to use VHC using the extended technology acceptance model (TAM). The novelty of the conceptual model is the incorporation of new predictors of attitude, namely, perceived compatibility and perceived privacy and security issues. We conducted a survey among 121 nurses in Malaysian government hospitals and clinics to test the model. We analyzed the collected data using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to examine the significant factors influencing nurses' attitudes and intentions to use VHC. Moreover, we applied an artificial neural network (ANN) to determine the most significant factors of acceptance with higher accuracy. Therefore, we could offer more accurate insights to decision-makers in the healthcare sector for the advancement of health services. Our results highlighted that the compatibility of VHC with the current work setting of nurses developed their positive perspectives on the system. Moreover, the nurses felt optimistic about the system when they considered it useful and easy to use in the workplace. Finally, their attitude toward using VHC played a pivotal role in increasing their intention to use it. Based on the ANN models, we also found that perceived compatibility was the most significant factor influencing nurses' attitudes towards using VHC, followed by perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness.

Corruption in the Healthcare Sector in Malaysia: The legal perspective

It is no doubt that corruption has enormous effects on the efficiency of the healthcare sector. Henceforth, the healthcare sector is a very complex and challenging sector for preventing corruption. Unpacking this issue leads us to the efforts made by the Malaysian government through the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and Cabinet Special Committee on Anti-Corruption (JKKMAR) by attempting to control corruption in a variety of ways, such as through general accountability frameworks and broader inclusion of transparency in its operations. Therefore, this research aims to present a legal framework, policy and good practice to guide policymakers in examining corruption in the health sector and to identify possible ways to intervene towards achieving a corrupt-free nation as echoed in the National Anti-Corruption Plan (NACP) 2019-2023. Keywords: Corruption; risks; laws; healthcare eISSN: 2398-4287 © 2022. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BYNC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/ebpj.v7iSI7%20(Special%20Issue).3815

Stakeholders’ Views on Patient Access Schemes in Malaysia

ObjectivesThe healthcare system aspires to ensure improved access to treatment while working within the existing financial constraints and increasing demands. Patient access schemes (PASs) are initiated to improve access. This study seeks the stakeholders’ views on the PAS in the public healthcare sector in Malaysia. MethodsThis is an exploratory qualitative study using a web-based online survey and semistructured interviews. The participants were recruited by purposive sampling, where the Ministry of Health of Malaysia staff, pharmaceutical organization personnel, and patient advocacy organization personnel with experience in PAS were invited to participate. A total of 42 consenting participants answered the survey, whereas the face-to-face interview had 8 participants. Interviews were thematically analyzed using the qualitative data analysis software NVivo V.12. The Medical Research and Ethics Committee, Ministry of Health of Malaysia, approved the study. ResultsOnly finance-based PAS was reportedly implemented, and it covered drugs for antineoplastic or immunomodulating therapy, alimentary tract and metabolism, sensory organs, and systemic hormonal preparations. A total of 3 major themes were identified. High upfront cost and high budget impact are a major concern leading to the need for PAS. Identifying the treatment needs was a major concern as well. The readiness of the health system to implement PAS will determine whether the PAS can be successfully implemented. Challenges similar to other jurisdictions were observed in Malaysia, concerns on data availability, the responsibility of the stakeholders, and the need for a legal framework. ConclusionMost stakeholders responded positively that the PAS would grow. Trust among stakeholders and a structured access plan would enhance the implementation and ensure its success.

Time series modeling using Box-Jenkins model for shariah compliant healthcare sector in Malaysia

Most economic and financial time series are trended and not stationary and therefore the raw data need to be detrended by differencing. An appropriate and efficient model is a good practice for evaluating the stock price performance. This paper utilized the Box-Jenkins methodology for modeling the stock price for the healthcare sector in the Malaysian stock market. This study focused on one shariah compliant company, namely Hartalega Holdings Berhad, which is one of the major healthcare companies that manufactured clinical Nitrile gloves in Malaysia. The data of monthly stock price is collected from April 2008 until December 2020. The findings of this study showed that ARIMA(2,1,0) is the best model to represent the time series data according to the smallest values of AIC and SC as well as the satisfaction of Ljung-Box test statistics. Through this study, investors able to monitor the investment portfolio from estimating the stock price performance of healthcare sector, while considering the current healthcare economic situation in Malaysia.

THE MODERATING EFFECT OF SELF-EFFICACY IN THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PERCEIVED JOB CHARACTERISTICS AND WORK ENGAGEMENT

Although much research attention has been given to study the effect of perceived job characteristics on various work outcomes, few have specifically examined the joint effect of perceived job characteristics and self-efficacy on employee work engagement. This study aimed to examine the role of self-efficacy as a moderator in the perceived job characteristics-work engagement relationship. A total of 646 employees from the healthcare sector in Malaysia participated in this study. A moderated hierarchical regression analysis revealed a positive effect of job characteristics (autonomy, skill variety, feedback, task significance, task identity) with work engagement and a significant interaction between task identity and self-efficacy in predicting employee work engagement. Managerial implications and directions for future research are discussed.
 Keywords: Job Characteristics, Autonomy, Task Identity, Self-Efficacy, Work Engagement

Pilot testing on safety performance among healthcare professionals

Background The study focused on the perception of healthcare professionals on safety performance in the sector. Objective The aim of the study is to assess the safety performance among healthcare professionals. This study examines the factors affecting safety performance in Malaysia. The results are expected to provide insights into the provision of a safety management programme for high level of safety performance. Design The study uses a quantitative instrument to explore perceptions regarding the healthcare system and health service based on pilot tests conducted. Respondents: The pilot test respondents were from various departments of two Malaysian private hospitals in Penang and Perak. These medical professionals with representatives from Quality, Pharmacy, Nursing, Rehabilitation, Imaging, Nursing Education, Security, Pharmacy, Nursing, Facility, Dental, and Educational Nursing departments participated across two focus group discussions carried out between July and September 2017. Results The most important factors impacting the safety performance were perceived motivation, safety management & process improvement, and safety practices, representing the three dimensions within the safety climate. Conclusions This study shows opinion of professionals working in the healthcare sector. Safety performance level in the Malaysian healthcare could be improved by alleviating occupational safety and health programme of the healthcare sector in Malaysia.

Factors associating the IT capability in healthcare services and its perceived transformation impact

Healthcare providers in Malaysia are facing the challenges linking clinical administrative processes to ensure that an effective collaboration and efficient delivery of care are in place. The challenge is influenced by the state of the current health information technology HIT infrastructure and hospital information and management systems HIMS deployed across hospitals in Malaysia that are typically confined within a particular healthcare provider without any sort of sharing and integration across other healthcare service providers and its associates. With these challenges identified, the study attempts to examine the factors associating the perceived transformation impact within the context of the healthcare sector in Malaysia. The findings of this study involves a survey being carried out with a total 564 participant's with the responses being screened with IBM SPSS 20.0. Structural equation modelling SEM using AMOS 20.0 was adopted to test all latent factors of the research model and it resulted in a relatively good fit. The overall empirical findings as a result from this study suggests that healthcare providers can be relieved supporting complex in house IT infrastructures by leveraging on the proposed private cloud national health information exchange.

Rethinking health care commercialization: evidence from Malaysia.

BackgroundAgainst the backdrop of systemic inefficiency in the public health care system and the theoretical claims that markets result in performance and efficiency improvement, developing countries’ governments have been rapidly commercializing health care delivery. This paper seeks to determine whether commercialization through an expansion in private hospitals has led to performance improvements in public hospitals.MethodsInpatient utilization records of all public hospitals in Peninsular Malaysia over the period 2006–2010 were used in this study. These records were obtained from the Ministry of Health. The study relied on utilization ratios, bed occupancy rates (BOR), bed turnover rates (BTR) and average length of stay (ALOS). The data were analyzed using SPSS 22 Statistical Software and the Pabon Lasso technique.ResultsOver 60 % of public hospitals in Malaysia are inefficient and perform sub-optimally. Average BOR among the public hospitals was 56 % in 2006 and 61 % in 2010. There was excessive BTR of 65 and 73 times within the period. Overall, the ALOS was low, falling from 3.4 days in 2006 to 3.1 days in 2010.ConclusionsThis study demonstrates that commercialization has not led to performance improvements in the public health care sector in Malaysia. The evidence suggests that efforts to improve performance will require a focus directly on public hospitals.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12992-015-0131-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Organizational Structure and Performances of Responsible Malaysian Healthcare Providers: A Balanced Scorecard Perspective

Abstract This paper aims to assess the organizational structure and performances through the Balanced Scorecard of Malaysian private hospitals by focusing on top management's perceptions. A structured questionnaire was used and 97 private hospitals registered with the Association of Private Hospitals Malaysia were included in the survey. In total, 39 responses were received which resulted in an overall usable response rate of 40.2%. The descriptive results illustrated that the majority of the private hospitals that adopt the Balanced Scorecard are highly centralized and formalized. These private hospitals subscribed to formalized rules and written formal procedures to ensure the management and governance of the health providers act in accord with espoused values. As such, there is a legitimate link to improved performances within this sector on the key aspects: internal business processes, patient quality services, safety and satisfaction, organizational learning and growth, and financial. Thus far, despite the evidence from this study that can be attributed to becoming responsible healthcare providers, drivers used which incorporate responsibility, integrity, accountability and transparency in assessing performances can be taken up. This paper adds value to the limited academic BSC literature and responsible issues pertaining to quality improvements and patient satisfaction within the private healthcare sector in Malaysia.

External Factors in Hospital Information System (HIS) Adoption Model: A Case on Malaysia

Studies related to healthcare ICT integration in Malaysia are relatively little, thus this paper provide a literature review of the integration of information and communication technologies (ICT) in the healthcare sector in Malaysia through the hospital information system (HIS). Our study emphasized on secondary data to investigate the factors related to ICT integration in healthcare through HIS. Therefore this paper aimed to gather an in depth understanding of issues related to HIS adoption, and contributing in fostering HIS adoption in Malaysia and other countries. This paper provides a direction for future research to study the correlation of factors affecting HIS adoption. Finally a research model is proposed using current adoption theories and external factors from human, technology, and organization perspectives.

Mindfulness, reliability, pre-emptive conflict handling, customer orientation and outcomes in Malaysia's healthcare sector

This paper draws from the mindfulness theory in examining the effects of service reliability (including reliable health information and care), pre-emptive conflict handling, and customer orientation on customer satisfaction and loyalty in healthcare service delivery in Malaysia. A survey of 423 consumers of healthcare services in Malaysia provides support for the theory. The findings of the study indicate that care reliability, information reliability, and pre-emptive conflict handling directly affect customer orientation; all four directly affect customer satisfaction, and indirectly affect customer loyalty via customer satisfaction. Thus, customer satisfaction fully mediates in the relationship of care reliability, information reliability, pre-emptive conflict handling, and customer orientation with customer loyalty. These findings lead to research and managerial implications that conclude the paper.

The impact of job satisfaction on organisational commitment among physicians in the private healthcare sector in Malaysia

A physician's loyalty or bond to his/her employing organisation, referred to as organisational commitment, affects various organisational outcomes such as job satisfaction, performance, accomplishment of organisational goals, employee turnover, and consequently patient satisfaction. The current study attempts to examine the possible effects of job satisfaction factors on the commitment of physicians to their employing organisations. The results showed that, where there was a moderate level of job satisfaction, a higher level of organisational commitment was found. There appeared to be a significant relationship between job satisfaction factors and organisational commitment predictors. It was recommended that hospital administrators and HR departments should concentrate on the domains of job satisfaction that ensure the enhancement of physicians' commitment to their organisations. This in turn will work in the interests of all stakeholders: physicians, hospitals, patients, and the country at large.

Healthcare supply chain management in Malaysia: a case study

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to evaluate inventory management in the private healthcare sector in Malaysia, with a particular focus on the distribution of medicines from a wholesaler to clinics. Currently, there are issues with service levels to clinics that need addressing.Design/methodology/approachThe paper adopts a case study approach, with data collected through process mapping, interviews and data analysis. Data flow diagrams are used to visualise the organization's supply chain current and future process. Interviews are used to identify the main supply chain issues, with triangulation of these opinions through data analysis.FindingsThe findings identify two main issues within the case study company – urgent orders and stock availability at the wholesaler. From this, a future state design of the supply chain is proposed, based around vendor‐managed inventory. Barriers to achieving this are also identified, including consideration of current supply chain management capabilities in Malaysia.Research limitations/implicationsOnly a single case study supply chain is studied, although two echelons are investigated. While this may limit the generalisation of the findings, there is value in demonstrating the benefits modern supply chain management techniques can bring to developing world healthcare supply chains.Practical implicationsThe paper shows that modern supply chain management techniques can bring benefits to healthcare supply chains in developing countries.Originality/valueThe value of the paper arises from providing a detailed analysis of a healthcare supply chain in the developing world. There have been only a small number of other studies published in the literature.

General Information and Statistics

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