1ST MALAYSIAN TELEHEALTH CONNECTATHON 2008 ACHIEVED SUCCESS IN FIRST TEST PHASE OF SEAMLESS PATIENT DATA SHARING

MSC Malaysia to showcase the six premier medical IT vendors at upcoming WCIT 2008

Kuala Lumpur: Healthcare facilities in Malaysia will soon be able to enjoy seamless patient data sharing as the 1st Malaysian Telehealth Connectathon 2008, jointly organized by MDeC, the caretaker of MSC Malaysia, and the Ministry of Health, has achieved success in its first interoperability testing event held recently at the Putrajaya International Convention Center (PICC).

As a flagship initiative by MSC Malaysia, Telehealth is also part of the Socio-Economic Development pavilion of MSC Malaysia and has many initiatives such as the MyHEALTH portal, Teleconsultation services, MyCPD portal and the Malaysian Telehealth Connectathon. Aiming to benefit the Rakyat as a whole, Telehealth ultimately seeks to provide easy access and improve the convenience of healthcare services through seamless patient data sharing and in time to come, seamless and integrated healthcare access via Information and Communications Technology (ICT) connectivity on a nationwide scale.

The Connectathon, jointly organized by MSC Malaysia and the Ministry of Health, is a ‘connectivity marathon’ following an initiative by the Integrating Healthcare Enterprise (IHE) global community during which the vendors or healthcare service providers that have developed the data sharing solutions test the compliance of their offerings based on international healthcare standards known as Health Level Seven (HL7) in a realistic and live interoperability environment. IHE provides a detailed implementation and testing process to promote the adoption of standards-based interoperability systems functions by vendors and users of healthcare information systems.

The six healthcare service providers that participated in the first Malaysian Telehealth Connectathon 2008 are Heitech Padu Berhad, UKM Medical Center, IBA Health Malaysia Sdn Bhd, WorldCare Health (M) Sdn Bhd, Peransang Jati Sdn Bhd, and Kompakar Inc Bhd.

The outcome of the 1st Malaysian Telehealth Connectathon 2008, has thus confirmed the interoperability of systems functions and applications these healthcare service providers; compliance of the systems functions and applications based on international healthcare standards; establishment of an interoperability platform through Telehealth; and also establishment of the Interoperability Community in Malaysia. Two integration profiles were tested during the event (eGL and Clinical Summary). MDeC and Telehealth plan to make this event a regular event involving other profiles and inclusion of more service providers.

Puan Gayah Gulam Haidar, Senior Manager, E-Government & Telehealth, Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC) said, “The 1st Malaysian Teleheath Connectathon 2008 was organized with the aim of creating a healthcare system that is more integrated and accessible. With this interoperability solution, healthcare centers nationwide will eventually be able to access a clinical summary of individual patients anytime, anywhere.” She also added that, “At the end of it all, the Telehealth flagship initiative by MSC Malaysia aims to benefit the Rakyat by providing them with the convenience and accessibility to seamlessly integrated healthcare services, and also to project Malaysia as a significant player in the ICT Healthcare industry in time to come.”

During the World Congress of Information Technology (WCIT) 2008 Exhibition, MSC Malaysia will be showcasing the six healthcare service providers that have passed the test compliance at the 1st Malaysian Telehealth Connectathon 2008 event with a certification presentation while demonstrating the Connectathon interoperability systems.

For further information on WCIT 2008 and its Related Events, please log on to http://www.wcit2008.org.