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Fulltext Rethinking health care commercialization: evidence from Malaysia

Nwagbara VC, Rasiah R

Global Health, 2015;11:44.
PMID: 26582159 DOI: 10.1186/s12992-015-0131-y

Against the backdrop of systemic inefficiency in the public health care system and the theoretical claims that markets result in performance and efficiency improvement, developing countries' governments have been rapidly commercializing health care delivery. This paper seeks to determine whether commercialization through an expansion in private hospitals has led to performance improvements in public hospitals.

Matched MeSH terms: Hospitals, Public/economics
The economic burden of hemodialysis in Jordan

Al-Shdaifat EA, Manaf MR

Indian J Med Sci, 2013 12 12;67(5-6):103-16.
PMID: 24326762

BACKGROUND: Hemodialysis treatment is a costly procedure that requires specific resources. It has a considerable burden on patients, caregivers, and healthcare system. The aim of this study was to estimate the economic burden borne by the Ministry of Health (MOH) in Jordan, with a focus on direct medical, direct non-medical, and indirect cost.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was conducted at MOH hospitals in Jordan, from August to November 2010. A total of 138 patients and 49 caregivers were involved in the study. An economic evaluation study was used to analyze the burden of hemodialysis treatment at MOH, Jordan. Direct medical costs were estimated through micro and macro costing from the provider's perspective. Patients' and caregivers' costs were included to calculate direct non-medical costs. Human capital approach was employed to evaluate the productivity loss for indirect cost and premature death and potential year life loss was used to estimate the premature death cost.
RESULTS: The total burden of hemodialysis at MOH, Jordan was USD17.70 million per year. Cost per session was $72 and the annual cost per patient was $9976. Direct medical cost was $7.20 million (41%) and direct non-medical cost was $2.02 million (11%). On the other hand, indirect cost (productivity loss) was $8.48 million (48%). All 722 patients on hemodialysis at MOH hospitals consumed 2.7% of MOH budget.
CONCLUSIONS: Costs of treating and managing patients on hemodialysis at MOH hospitals in Jordan are substantial. Therefore, efforts should be taken to slow down the progress of renal failure to save resources and a comparative study with other modalities, such as continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis and kidney transplantation, should be considered.

Matched MeSH terms: Hospitals, Public/economics
Nursing workforce planning: insights from seven Malaysian hospitals

Drake R

Br J Nurs, 2013 Jan-Feb;22(2):95-100.
PMID: 23587892

In 2010, the Royal College of Nursing asked: 'What is the optimal level and mix of nurses required to deliver quality care as cost-effectively as possible?' This question implies there is a relationship between staffing levels, quality of care and financial efficiency. This paper examines the relationship between the staff budget, the number of staff required to achieve a target level of care and the actual number of staff employed in seven hospitals in Malaysia. It seeks to critically evaluate local challenges arising from staff budgeting/planning procedures, identify general issues that apply beyond Malaysian healthcare institutions and, finally, to propose a model that combines finance, staffing and level of care.

Matched MeSH terms: Hospitals, Public/economics
The establishment of in-house neurology driven therapeutic plasma exchange infrastructure in a resource-limited public hospital in Malaysia: Adopting and integrating evidenced-based health care technology through time

Viswanathan S, Hiew FL

J Clin Apher, 2019 Aug;34(4):434-444.
PMID: 30829434 DOI: 10.1002/jca.21696

There has been an increase in the use of therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) in immune-mediated neurological disorders in recent years. However, accessibility and availability of TPE remains low and costly, especially for a country with limited healthcare funding like Malaysia. With expanding clinical indications in neurological disorders, and increasingly expensive conventional immunomodulatory treatment such as intravenous immunoglobulin and monoclonal antibodies, TPE remains an effective part of first or second-line treatment. In this article, we detailed the historical aspects of the use of TPE in neurological disorders in Malaysia over the last four decades and discussed the challenges behind the establishment of the first in-house neurology-driven TPE service in the country. Local TPE database from a national neurology centre in Kuala Lumpur over the past 20 years was analyzed. We observed a remarkable three folds increase in the use of TPE at our center over the past 10 years (total 131 TPE treatments) compared to a decade prior, with expanding clinical indications predominantly for central nervous system demyelinating disorders. Besides using membrane filtration method, centrifugal technique was adopted, providing new opportunities for other clinical beneficiaries such as a neurologist driven "in-house TPE unit". However, there were real world challenges, especially having to provide services with limited funding, human resources, and space. In addition, much has to be done to improve accessibility, availability, and sustainability of TPE services at our center and nationwide. Nevertheless, even with limited resources and support, it is possible with concerted efforts to work within the confines of these limitations to establish a safe, successful, and sustainable TPE service.

Matched MeSH terms: Hospitals, Public/economics
Dialysis Care and Dialysis Funding in Asia

Tang SCW, Yu X, Chen HC, Kashihara N, Park HC, Liew A, et al.

Am J Kidney Dis, 2020 05;75(5):772-781.
PMID: 31699518 DOI: 10.1053/j.ajkd.2019.08.005

Asia is the largest and most populated continent in the world, with a high burden of kidney failure. In this Policy Forum article, we explore dialysis care and dialysis funding in 17 countries in Asia, describing conditions in both developed and developing nations across the region. In 13 of the 17 countries surveyed, diabetes is the most common cause of kidney failure. Due to great variation in gross domestic product per capita across Asian countries, disparities in the provision of kidney replacement therapy (KRT) exist both within and between countries. A number of Asian nations have satisfactory access to KRT and have comprehensive KRT registries to help inform practices, but some do not, particularly among low- and low-to-middle-income countries. Given these differences, we describe the economic status, burden of kidney failure, and cost of KRT across the different modalities to both governments and patients and how changes in health policy over time affect outcomes. Emerging trends suggest that more affluent nations and those with universal health care or access to insurance have much higher prevalent dialysis and transplantation rates, while in less affluent nations, dialysis access may be limited and when available, provided less frequently than optimal. These trends are also reflected by an association between nephrologist prevalence and individual nations' incomes and a disparity in the number of nephrologists per million population and per thousand KRT patients.

Matched MeSH terms: Hospitals, Public/economics