KUALA LUMPUR: The Health Ministry has come up with an innovative telemedicine service called EMWatch to reduce congestion at emergency departments nationwide.
EMWatch is a project under the National Technology and Innovation Sandbox (NTIS), with the pilot project launched at Sungai Buloh Hospital and Kuala Lumpur Hospital (HKL) in Feb 8 last year. It has benefited 926 patients so far.
Caretaker Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said 25 per cent of those discharged from the emergency department needed continued observation and EMWatch served this purpose.
"Now, these patients can be discharged without doubts as they can be monitored via EMWatch.
"EMWatch ensures the medical services are continuously given without putting additional burden on our hospitals," he said at the official launch of EMWatch at HKL here today.
Also present were Health Ministry secretary-general Datuk Harjeet Singh, deputy director-general (medical) Datuk Dr Asmayani Khalib, Malaysian Research Accelerator for Technology and Innovation (MRANTI) chief executive officer Dzuleira Abu Bakar and HKL director Dr Rohana Johan.
EMWatch enables virtual monitoring of patients, online medical prescriptions, and also issuance of medical leave and referral letters. Selected patients will be required to register at the cHEART application for the project.
Khairy said not only would EMWatch ease congestion at the emergency department, it would also reduce patients' waiting time, travel time and cost, and prevent them from being exposed to contagious diseases.
"There is a potential for this to be expanded to other departments," he added.