More on eMedAsia

eMedAsia Sdn Bhd (1371550K) is a joint effort by the Malaysian Medical Association (via its investment arm KOOP MMA) and HS Bio to digitalise primary healthcare services in Malaysia.[1] The eMedAsia digital platform enables private clinics to amongst other things, procure medicine, provide telemedicine services and access other healthcare-related services, among other facilities. This will set the foothold for the future of how private clinicmedical services will be carried out in future.

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Currently, the online platform by eMedAsia digital platform is open to all clinic owners, including dental, ambulatory care centres and hospitals. Registration is free of charge. The goal is to on-board all the estimated 6,000 private clinics registered with the Ministry of Health across West and East Malaysia.

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ForIn terms of Mmembers of the public, they can now search eMedAsia for the services they need in detail and will be able to virtually consult physicians via their desktops or mobile devices from the safety and comfort of their homes.[2] They will also have the option of their prescription medicine being delivered to their doorstep. With globalChanging trends brought about by lockdowns nowhave made this being a trend, globally and Malaysia should not be left behind in providing innovative healthcare access.

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eMedAsia also functions as an e-commerce marketplace for clinic owners to procure pharmaceutical products, consumables and medical devices. Because private clinics are networked on a common platform, medical suppliers can easily identify those that may need their products and save on marketing and branding expenses. As at June 2020, suppliers had placed 1,600 STKs (stock-keeping units) for clinic owners to search and choose from.

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Clinics in the eMedAsia ecosystem benefit from HS Bio’s ability to provide 3PL, or third-party logistics for the handling of last-mile delivery; and 4PL, or fourth-party logistics, which includes procuring, warehousing, processing, picking and packing. 3PL and 4PL lower the cost of inventory investment and attract better rates for bulk purchase arrangement as well as friendly credit payment terms from suppliers.

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This integration of technology, e-commerce and last-mile logistics holds great promise to make primary healthcare more accessible to and affordable for all Malaysians. As more health-related providers participate in the ecosystem to complement and complete the current services offered by individual clinics and the business model evolves from B2B to B2B2C, consumers too will benefit from the shared savings made possible by the eMedAsia ecosystem.

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Looking towards the future, eMedAsia will design and develop digital services for measurable patient experiences and optimised health outcomes. Business process automation for clinical operations is another area in which eMedAsia has extensive experience and expertise.

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Perhaps more exciting is the potential to work with technology partners as well as healthcare-related providers such as insurance companies in the ecosystem to provide holistic primary care services and link these with specialist tertiary care. The eMedAsia platform can deliver patient data (with their consent) such as test results with government databases on travellers’ health screening systems, for example, or deliver test samples to designated labs or hospitals.

The future is indeed an exciting one with great potential for the delivery of primary healthcare serviceswhere the possibilities are endless. The goal is to ultimately not only build an end-to-end medical supply chain but also provide the most extensive product and services offering at the most competitive pricing to both care providers as well as patients. With itsour network capabilities being both not just through online reach and highly experiencedbut through our supply chain management, eMedAsiawe will be able to create the most extensive network of healthcare services to reach even small towns withutilising HS Bio’sour logistics capabilities.

[1] KOOP MMA, or Koperasi Persatuan Perubatan Malaysia, is the investment vehicle of the Malaysian Medical Association. MMA is the main representative body for all registered medical practitioners in Malaysia, with some 14,000 registered doctors in the association, 35,000 doctors on its continuing professional development (CPD) platform.

[2] For example, they could run a detailed search for clinics that provide Covid-19 screening using RT-PCR Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction), Antigen RTK (Rapid Test Kit) or Antibody RTK and get their secured report with a QR code.