PUTRAJAYA: The Health Ministry is now adopting the cashless electronic payment methods for healthcare services at 139 hospitals, 144 health clinics and four health institutes nationwide.
Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba said contactless payment methods allows the public to use debit cards, credit cards, e-wallet applications and other instruments such as payWave.
He said this during the official launch of the "Pay using ATM MyDebit" campaign at hospitals and government clinics held at the ministry here today.
The campaign is a collaboration with Payments Network Malaysia (PayNet).
"The 'Pay using ATM MyDebit at Hospitals and Government clinics' campaign which was initiated since July aims to boost the use of electronic and online banking services, especially while making government related payments or transactions," he said in a speech.
He said this move is in tandem with Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin's new normal campaign, which was recently launched.
"This campaign also supports the government's recommendation to create a cashless society, encourage contactless payment as well as boost the use of online services for government related services."
Dr Adham said going cashless is part of the recommended measures under the new normal way of life, which is being advocated by the government to reduce the risk of infection amidst the Covid-19 pandemic.
"The use of debit cards in daily transactions is nothing new, as the ministry had first introduced it as a payment option at some healthcare facilities in 2015.
"However, the response was not that encouraging. But now in the current pandemic, we hope this campaign will convince more people to go cashless and contactless in their transactions.
"We highly recommend the public to use the cashless and contactless payment option to reduce any possible risk of Covid-19 infection."
"Health Ministry facilities nationwide received 37.48 million paying patients in 2019 and until June this year, it has received 12.74 million paying patients. With such a high volume of patients, a good registration, payment and discharge system will certainly improve service efficiency," he said in a speech.
On the campaign, Dr Adham said it would run for a six-month period until December.
To encourage more people to adopt cashless options, the ministry together with PayNet also came up with a monthly lucky draw for those who pay for their medical fees via ATM My Debit, as part of the campaign.
"The lucky prize winner will stand a chance to win a Yamaha Y15ZR, while another 50 lucky people will also be selected to receive RM100 throughout the campaign period," Dr Adham said.
Also present at the event were Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, Health Ministry secretary-general Datuk Seri Dr Chen Chaw Min, PayNets essential affairs director Firdaus Ghani and RHB Islamic Bhd managing director Datuk Adissadikin Ali.
"Currently, e-payment methods are available at 287 facilities and we will be expanding to include more clinics and healthcare facilities through a collaboration with RHB Islamic Bank Bhd, which will be done in stages soon," he said.