Five-year strategic partnership valued over 100 million MYR between the two healthcare companies will enhance labour markets in Melaka and Johor whilst offering improved treatment and patient care options for cancer, neuroscience and cardiovascular diseases through the further development of the Centres of Excellence (CoEs) in these clinical areas.

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 population. The World Health Organisation has also estimated that about 74% of all deaths in Malaysia are caused by NCDs.

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 quality diagnostic imaging, treatment modalities and informatics from Siemens Healthineers. These enhancements will enhance the continuum of care and further improve the overall patient experience.

“This is the first such Value Partnership for Siemens Healthineers where our role moves beyond providing the latest technology but also includes enhanced training programmes, healthcare consultation and digital solutions, delivered over an extended period. This will enable HMI Group to constantly enhance its hospital services and Centres of Excellence in accordance with the latest trends in the industry,” said Rod Frazer, Managing Director, Siemens Healthineers, Malaysia.

Enhancing the job market

Besides the new partnership with Siemens Healthineers, HMI Group is also constructing a major extension block at Regency to become a 500-bed hospital, which will create an estimated 300 new high-skilled jobs for Malaysians. The new labour market will be directed at fulfilling the needs of the developing CoEs by growing specialist talents within Malaysia. Additionally, HMI Group is looking to recruit and develop local talents in the fields of clinical, allied health and hospital management, to meet the ever-evolving demand of patient care in their two Malaysian hospitals.

In addition to attracting new talents, HMI Group will also concentrate on upskilling their existing staff to ensure competency in operating the new technologies. This move also supports the Malaysian government’s goal of developing the nation as a leading medical tourism hub.

“With the new technologies coupled with our skilled talent pool, we would not only position Mahkota and Regency amongst the most comprehensive hospitals in the Southeast Asian region. The integration of telemedicine technologies provides improved access to care for local communities, while offering a unique opportunity to extend the reach of medical tourism into pre and post surgical care. Ultimately, our objective is to continuously offer access and best of care on-demand for patients. If our hospitals become more attractive to international patients seeking the best medical care, that would only bring a positive impact to the Malaysian economy,” said Chin.

The Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council (MHTC) has been actively expanding the country’s market base in medical tourism since its formation in 2009. In 2019, Malaysia was ranked as the top international medical tourism destination in terms of volume of inbound medical travellers for the third consecutive year. HMI’s hospitals in Malaysia are both accredited Elite Partner Members of MHTC, servicing international patients from around the region. Makhota Medical Centre has established a comprehensive cancer centre in Southern Malaysia, while Regency Specialist Hospital was recently awarded platinum status for World Stroke Organisation (WSO) Angels Award in Q3 2020 for demonstrating global standards in stroke care practices.

Beyond the boundaries of healthcare, the partnership with Siemens Healthineers is also expected to have positive ramifications in the economies of Melaka and Johor due to the spillover effect from the partnership’s investment. The further building of the CoEs will spur further local growth within the consumer, tourism, construction and social services sector, all of which will also contribute indirectly to Malaysia’s growth and movement towards becoming a developed nation.

Improving patient outcomes

HMI Group and Siemens Healthineers will also be working to increase the quality of care for patients by upgrading HMI Group’s facilities to the latest innovative technologies. For instance the latest MRI with Biomatrix technology supported by Artificial Intelligence (AI) allows user to scan every patient type by automatically adjusting to each individual patient, resulting in a higher diagnostic confidence, fewer rescans, more predictable scheduling and consistent, high quality personalised exams. Having access to more and frequent data, doctors will have a comprehensive profile of patients and the capability to transform data into actionable insights for better diagnosis and timely interventions. The Dual Source technology in the CT scanner, with industry’s fastest and most versatile scan mode, helps to handle unplanned patients in urgent situations at a much lower radiation dose, ensuring the safety of both patients and staff.

Another area that the partnership will address is reducing the amount of time spent on operational and staff planning with regards to processing patients. Siemens Healthineers will work with HMI Group to augment the use of medical imaging technology with its teamplay performance management applications and healthcare consulting services as part of HMI Group’s move towards digitalizing healthcare. This will enable HMI Group to make quick and well-informed decisions by offering a clear overview of its clinical and operational performance data, thereby improving the overall patient experience by reducing bottlenecks such as long patient waiting times.

Long-term partnership

Established earlier this calendar year, this partnership with Siemens Healthineers signals the start of a long-term relationship between these two companies to advance healthcare delivery in Malaysia and the region. “As our first reference site for Value Partnerships in Southeast Asia, HMI Group will demonstrate how healthcare consulting plays a critical role in developing meaningful partnerships to overcome the increasing challenges in the industry today.” adds Frazer.

“HMI Group is committed to not just improve the lives of our patients but the community as a whole, by developing local talents, continuous investment in innovative medical technologies, and further development of our Centres of Excellence. Even with Covid-19 still affecting Malaysia and many countries globally, we are confident that our investment towards advancing healthcare delivery in Malaysia will lead to better care for our patients and ultimately contribute to a better economy for the future,” said Chin. “This long-term collaboration with Siemens Healthineers will transform Mahkota Medical Centre and Regency Specialist Hospital into modern medical centres providing technology enabled, specialised care for our cancer, neuroscience and cardiovascular disease patients. Our partnership with Siemens Healthineers will strengthen our vision to deepen clinical capabilities, scale impact and contribute to the health of our community,” said Chin.