Malaysia’s MHTC announces digital enablement partner

As part of its goal of making Malaysia a global healthcare destination, Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council has announced a new strategic partner, HIMSS, to strengthen the country’s healthcare ecosystem through digital transformation. 

Founded in 2009, MHTC is a government agency under Malaysia’s Ministry of Health responsible for promoting the country’s medical travel industry. It works with industry players and service providers to make Malaysia a leading global healthcare destination under the “Malaysia Healthcare” brand.

In this partnership, HIMSS will engage leading hospitals in Malaysia to work on their accreditations for the HIMSS Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model (EMRAM) through Stage 7. The MHTC will then recommend the HIMSS EMRAM, which measures a facility’s EMR maturity, to all its 73 member hospitals.

The collaboration also seeks to develop Malaysia’s healthcare travel industry in line with the Malaysia Healthcare Travel Industry Blueprint 2021-2025 which covers four areas:

  • Knowledge sharing and capacity building initiatives to push for continuous digital and technology adoption in the Malaysia Healthcare ecosystem;
  • Strategic thought leadership initiatives to build a value proposition for Malaysia by leveraging both parties’ resources, expertise, and capabilities in healthcare travel and wellness;
  • Leverage HIMSS regional and global network as well as thought leadership platforms to profile and increase Malaysia Healthcare’s reach, especially in identified focus markets; and
  • Forge new avenues for strategic industry collaboration to prepare Malaysia’s private hospitals to adopt digital maturity models and engage in government-to-government partnerships for knowledge sharing.

USA based HIMSS (Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society) is a mission-driven non-profit, with expertise in health innovation, public policy, workforce development, research and digital health transformation. It has operations across North America, Europe, the United Kingdom, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific.

MHTC recognises the need for continued innovation and digitalisation to push the healthcare travel industry forward while ensuring sustainable growth. MHTC CEO, Mohd Daud Mohd Arif, explains, “Leveraging HIMSS expertise in digital and technology and its vast network across the globe, we can forge more pathways for the industry to strengthen our digital and technological capabilities and explore new avenues to amplify the Malaysia Healthcare brand.”