EMR Can Strengthen Mental Healthcare In District Hospitals - Expert

By Nabilah Saleh

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 2 (Bernama) -- Greater adoption of electronic medical records (EMR) could give smaller and district hospitals faster access to psychological assessments and treatment histories, said clinical psychologist Dr Nadzirah Ahmad Basri.

She said EMR would allow clinicians to retrieve records more efficiently instead of locating physical files or relying on handwritten reports, particularly when patients are referred outside their home districts.

She said easier access to patients’ treatment histories could support the delivery of mental-health services across different healthcare facilities.

Digitalisation, however, should complement rather than diminish the therapeutic relationship between a mental-health professional and patient, said Dr Nadzirah, an assistant professor at International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM).

“If we rely too much on looking at screens and typing instead of making eye contact and observing changes in facial cues, bodily movements and non-verbal reactions, then it is not good,” she told Bernama when asked about Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s announcement of a RM1 billion allocation to strengthen the digital efficiency of public healthcare.

The fund covers the implementation of EMR and internet connectivity at 150 government hospitals and more than 2,000 public health clinics.

Dr Nadzirah pointed out that she generally avoided typing during psychotherapy sessions so that she could give patients her full attention.

The necessary electronic documentation would instead be completed after the session.

She added that striking the right balance would allow healthcare professionals to benefit from digital tools while preserving the human interaction central to mental-health treatment.

Meanwhile, Health Performance Unit (HPU) director Dr Saravanan S.R. Sundaramurthy said interoperability, common data standards, data governance and data quality should be incorporated into digital-health programmes from the beginning.

“Digitalisation without interoperability can simply create digital silos instead of paper silos. Different systems may exist, but the data must be able to speak to each other,” he said.

Saravanan said the Health Ministry should establish clear national requirements covering terminology, identifiers, architecture, interoperability, cybersecurity, privacy and governance while allowing healthcare facilities appropriate implementation flexibility.

“The objective is not to create one identical system in every facility. The objective is to create a connected national health information ecosystem in which authorised healthcare professionals can access accurate and relevant information when and where it is needed,” he said.

He also proposed a Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning framework, periodic performance reporting and a digital-transformation dashboard to give policymakers, healthcare professionals and the public a clearer view of progress.

Saravanan said performance should ultimately be measured through improvements such as shorter waiting and record-retrieval times, fewer duplicated investigations, better referral turnaround and improved patient experience.

“In simple terms, we should measure the transformation of healthcare, not merely the installation of technology,” he said.

-- BERNAMA