Kuala Lumpur, 28 April 2021 – Regional private healthcare provider Health Management International (“HMI Group”) is entering into a strategic partnership with Siemens Healthineers, to advance the Malaysian healthcare industry and cultivate local talents surrounding the use of new medical technologies in their tertiary hospitals Mahkota Medical Centre (“Mahkota”) in Melaka and Regency Specialist Hospital (“Regency”) in Johor.
As part of this RM100 million five-year strategic partnership, which is the first-of-its-kind in Southeast Asia, HMI Group will partner Siemens Healthineers to roll out innovative medical technologies, digitalisation platforms and clinical services advancements across the Group including Mahkota and Regency in Malaysia. The partnership will enable HMI Group to optimise clinical performance, provide opportunities for more skilled local jobs, enhance clinical education and further develop the hospitals’ Centres of Excellences (CoE) in the key clinical areas of cancer, neuroscience and cardiovascular diseases. This investment is a key component of HMI Group’s ongoing expansion initiatives in both hospitals and strengthens HMI Group’s commitment to building new capabilities to stay ahead at the forefront of providing superior care and to improve lives and communities.
Tackling NCDS in Malaysia through further development of Centres of Excellence
In September 2020, the Ministry of Health reported that non-communicable diseases (NCDs), which are medical conditions or diseases that are not infectious including cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and cancer, have cost the Malaysian economy an estimated RM8.9 billion, equivalent to about 0.65% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) due to productivity losses in the workplace and premature deaths of the working populationi. The World Health Organisation has also estimated that about 74% of all deaths in Malaysia are caused by NCDsii.
Group CEO of HMI Group, Chin Wei Jia, explained that the further development of CoEs in cancer, neuroscience and cardiovascular diseases as part of the strategic partnership is in line with the Malaysian government’s goals to address the growing issue of NCDs and reduce premature mortality caused by NCDs by 2025. The focus on these areas for the new Centres of Excellence also aligns with the nation’s NCD trends, as 35% of NCD deaths are from cardiovascular diseases, followed by 16% from cancersii.
“This strategic partnership will enable Mahkota Medical Centre and Regency Specialist Hospital to improve patient care by serving as flagship reference sites for Siemens Healthineers in Southeast Asia. As the care of our patients is at the centre of everything that we do, our partnership will accelerate the adoption of connected health, thereby providing faster access to care, while building telehealth and predictive analytics capabilities at scale, all of which will go a long way in enhancing our patients’ journey towards a healthier outcome,” shared Chin.
The further development of CoEs will capitalise on the latest offerings in digital health and big data. With regards to technological enhancements, both Makhota and Regency will be digitalised and networked through end-to-end high
