The cost of medical technology !

Someone sent me, through an email, which I reproduced herewith. I am sure we can all relate to ... Enjoy!

"A woman brought a very limp duck to a veterinary surgeon. As she laid her pet on the table, the vet
pulled out his stethoscope and listened to the bird's chest. After a moment or two, the vet shook his head and sadly said, "I'm sorry, your duck, Cuddles, has passed away."

The distressed woman wailed, "Are you sure?" "Yes, I am sure. Your duck is dead," replied the
vet. "How can you be so sure?" she protested. "I mean you haven't done any testing on him or anything. He might just be in a coma or something."

The vet rolled his eyes, turned around and left the room.

He returned a few minutes later with a black Labrador Retriever. As the duck's owner looked on
in amazement, the dog stood on his hind legs, put his front paws on the examination table and sniffed the duck from top to bottom. He then looked up at the vet with sad eyes and shook his head. The vet patted the dog on the head and took it out of the room.

A few minutes later he returned with a cat. The cat jumped on the table and also delicately
sniffed the bird from head to foot. The cat sat back on its haunches, shook its head, meowed softly and strolled out of the room.

The vet looked at the woman and said, "I'm sorry, but as I said, this is most definitely, 100% certifiably, a dead duck."

The vet turned to his computer terminal, hit a few keys and produced a bill, which he handed to the woman. The duck's owner, still in shock, took the bill.

"$150!" she cried, "$150 just to tell me my duck is dead!"

The vet shrugged, "I'm sorry. If you had just taken my word for it, the bill would have been $20, but with the Lab Report and the Cat Scan, it's now $150."

You know the drill..."

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Private Healthcare in Malaysia

"The medical and dental services offered by healthcare facilities in Malaysia are on par with those in fully developed nations.

They cost considerably less than similar ones in neighbouring countries and are a mere fraction of the prices charged in the West.

Malaysian doctors and specialists are highly qualified, having received their training at overseas medical schools in countries such as Australia, the United Kingdom, United States and many others as well as in local universities.

All private healthcare facilities in Malaysia are required to be licensed under the Private Healthcare Facilities and Services Act 1998 and Private Healthcare Facilities and Services Regulations 2006.

Many of the private hospitals are accredited by either a National or International Accreditation Bodies, recognised by the International Society for Quality in Health Care (ISQua). Examples are the Malaysian Society for Quality in Health (MSQH) Standards; Joint Commission International (JCI) Hospital Accreditation Standards; and other International Accreditation Body/Bodies.

Thus, patients are assured of optimum quality and safety".

 

Source: Above are reproduced from the Malaysia Health Travel Council (MHTC). MHTC was established under the Ministry of Health Malaysia (MOH), bringing together the nation's dual heritage of hospitality and medical innovation, highlighting Malaysia as the preferred healthcare travel destination in the Asian region. As an initiative under the MOH, its ultimate purpose is to promote and position Malaysia as a unique destination for world-class healthcare services.  

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Medical Tourism - Targetting

Malaysia is targeting patients from both developed and less developed countries in the medical tourism sector by embarking on good facilities and competitive rates compared to other parts of the world.

 

Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam said Indonesia remained as the biggest market due to its proximity and accessibility. "We are also targeting Middle Eastern countries and Bangladesh also as the Ministry itself is allocating RM25 million in promoting medical tourism, " he told reporters here after addressing the 31st Annual Dinner and Installation Night of the Malaysian Medical Association Melaka Branch at a leading hotel here last night.

 

He said medical tourism benefited the government in terms of foreign direct investments and also spin-off effects in the hotel and shopping sector.

 

According to International Medical Travel Journal News, medical tourism receipts in Malaysia from foreign patients totalled RM509.77 million in 2011 involving 578,403 patients.

 

Dr Subramaniam said medical tourism was growing fast with Singapore and Thailand the biggest players in the region besides Malaysia.

Source: sinchew 29-09-2013
 

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Obesity on the rise: Malaysia

More and more Malaysians are obese nowadays and, worse, many of them are children.

Disclosing this at a meeting here, Johor Health Department director Dr Mohd Khairy Yaakub said this was due to dietary patterns that have steadily evolved as a result of socio-economic change.

“Families, nowadays, eat on-the-go and the average time devoted to meal preparation has declined as a result of busy lifestyles,” he said, adding that such problems were also evident in other countries as well and have become a global challenge.

Quoting a National Health and Morbidity Survey, Dr Mohd Khairy said the number of Malaysian adults with diabetes has also increased from 14.9% in 2006 to 15.2% in 2011.

The survey also showed there was a rise in those suffering from hypercholesterolemia (presence of high levels of cholesterol in the blood), from 20.6% to 35.1%.

There was also an increase in the prevalence of obesity in the same period, from 14% to 15.1% .

“What is more worrying is that cases of people being overweight is increasing, especially schoolchildren,” he said.

Dr Mohd Khairy said the rise in the number of people suffering from diabetes, obesity and hypercholesterolemia is worrying. “Every Malaysian should be motivated to embrace the concept of positive living by changing their mindset, attitude and behaviour. We need to exercise regularly, have a balanced diet and avoid smoking.”

Source: theSTAR 24-09-2013

 



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High Profile?

Very familiar remark of CEOs ... "I want to grow and expand my business aggressively but I am a private person. I do not want to have high visibility."

It always puzzle me when I hear this statement. To grow a business aggressively, you do need to be active and build your network and profile. You need to be with the right crowd and environment. 

An ambitious CEO needs to be able to exude confidence and mastery of his business. He exudes a flair for business, connectivity and public relationship. He surrounds himself with skill and knowledgeable staff and advisors. He is courageous to take calculated risks and challenges. He is not afraid to fail ...

 

If the CEO intends to embark on an ambitious project like having a public IPO, the bar is raised. The CEO has to trade-off some of his private time and freedom as he markets himself.

To create interest in his IPO, he has to "rebrand" himself and his Company. This takes deliberate conscious effort, time and money ... The public and private investors are realistic and demanding. They need to know who is leading the Company, the prospect and sustainability of the business and Company ... thus, rebranding and re-profiling is a prerequisite to accelerate and propel growth to the next level! He will definitely be on a trajectory course of "high profile" and thus visibility.




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Tap into Health Tourism

Healthcare service providers should tap into the growing health tourism sector in an effort to turn the nation into a regional healthcare hub, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

This, he said, could be achieved by healthcare service providers here entering into cross-border collaborations with their international counterparts.

“I urge healthcare service providers to leave no stone unturned in pursuing this potential.
“Becoming a regional healthcare hub ultimately creates more job opportunities and wealth, which benefits the economy and country as a whole,” he said at the launch of the ParkCity Medical Centre here yesterday, which also saw the unveiling of the Ramsay Sime Darby Healthcare (RSDHC) logo.

Efforts to spur development of the health tourism sector via the National Key Economic Areas (NKEA) and the Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council (MHTC) had shown positive results, said Najib.

“Over the past three years, Malaysia has seen more than 20% growth in health tourism, and generated almost RM600mil in revenue last year,” he said. 

The positive growth, said Najib, was due to MHTC’s role in providing the technological platform for web-based medical and health-related information to a global audience.

“Among the countries fast becoming interested in Malaysia’s medical tourism industry is Japan, which has registered 20% growth,” he said, adding that the Japanese coming here were those under the Malaysia My Second Home programme or via word of mouth from friends and relatives.

The development of health tourism, Najib pointed out, would also help reverse the international brain drain of medical professionals.

Earlier in his speech, Ramsay Health Care Ltd chairman Paul Ramsay said Asean’s collective population of 600 million offered vast opportunities in the healthcare industry. He said the joint venture would see RSDHC tying up three of Sime Darby’s hospitals here with three of Ramsay’s hospitals in Indonesia.

Source: theSTAR 18-09-2013

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GDI: Malaysia second most dynamic in Asean

The Grant Thornton Global Dynamism Index (GDI) 2013 has ranked Malaysia as Asean’s second most dynamic country after Singapore.

Now in its second year, the GDI ranks 60 of the largest economies in the world on their dynamism, drawing on both economic and business survey data.

It scores each economy across five key areas of dynamism – business operating environment, economics and growth, science and technology, labour and human capital, and financing environment – producing an overall score.

Singapore had a score of 61.9, the highest in Asean, followed by Malaysia with 59.5 and Thailand with 56.4

Malaysia ranked second best in key areas such as business operating environment (74) and financing environment (60) in Asean for growing businesses.

SJ Grant Thornton managing partner Datuk N.K. Jasani said: “Malaysia is ranked 13th globally by the GDI, a major improvement of 11 places from the year before.

“Our country also provides a good financing environment, as we scored the highest in Asean for access to medium-term capital (85).”

In comparison with other countries globally, Malaysia is performing strongly in key areas such as economics and growth, ranking eighth (73), labour and human capital, ranking 11th (62) and financing environment, ranking 16th (60).

“We have climbed to the eighth ranking in economics and growth, boosted by higher gross domestic product (GDP) and consumption growth. Our real GDP growth is ranked ninth in the world (84)” he said.

Source: the STAR 16-09-2013
 

 





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