The resurgence of COVID-19 cases has overwhelmed the public healthcare system and overloaded the healthcare resources. Ministry of Health (MOH) Malaysia has adopted an Emergency Ordinance (EO) to instruct private hospitals to receive both COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 patients to reduce the strain on public facilities. The treatment of COVID-19 patients at private hospitals could help to boost the bed and critical care occupancy.
Other collaborative measures with private healthcare providers, e.g. teleconferencing by private medical clinics to monitor COVID-19 patients and the rollout of national vaccination programme. The public and private healthcare partnership must be enhanced, and continue to find effective ways to collaborate further to combat the pandemic.
The MOH, private healthcare sectors, and insurance providers need to have a synergistic COVID-19 treatment plan to ensure public as well as insurance policyholders have equal opportunities for COVID-19 screening tests, vaccinations, and treatment.
This is an extract from the research article originally published in the Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice. You can read it here.
Image Credits: Med-Tech Innovation
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