PHOTO: SJMC
For one patient’ s granddaughter, the nurses at SeniorConnect detected elevated blood pressure in her grandmother and promptly advised a visit to her regular SJMC cardiologist. They even assisted in scheduling the appointment, which was greatly appreciated. She is thankful for the timely intervention, preventing a potential worsening of her grandmother’ s condition.
SJMC is also leveraging SeniorConnect to establish a seamless care pathway, enabling patients to access both primary and tertiary care across East and West Malaysia. In collaboration with Public Medicare Group( PMG), one of the largest local primary healthcare providers, SJMC will explore using remote monitoring solutions to monitor the health of patients residing in East Malaysia.
The remaining three areas— GPConnect, ICUConnect, and HospitalConnect— are currently in development and will be launched in the very near future.
AI for diagnostic and therapeutic accuracy AI not only aids in early infection detection in chronic wounds but also provides consistent, objective evaluations, thereby improving burn depth assessment and surgical planning accuracy.
“ It reads better. It’ ll pick up suspicious activities and areas that our raw vision wouldn’ t. SJMC is advanced in cancer treatment, and we use Radixact with Synchrony for adaptive radiotherapy with AI. The AI helps to predict movement of the tumour during radiotherapy session and enables the system to track the tumour accurately and safely. Therefore, we are able to reduce several weeks of treatment sessions to less than a week( 3-5 sessions) to treat the patient with intent to cure using highly precise technology that can deliver high radiation doses safely,” Lin said.
Furthermore, SJMC utilises AI for diagnostic imaging interpretation in radiology for the chest and brain that excel at detecting subtle patterns while automating image analysis. Deep learning is also significantly impacting Magnetic Resonance Imaging( MRI) in various ways, leading to advancements in image quality, processing speed, and diagnostic accuracy.
Addressing digitalisation challenges The rise in both healthcare and medical equipment costs is a universal issue, particularly in Malaysia in recent years, and has stirred concern among healthcare providers, patients and their payors.
“ Our current regulation doesn’ t or has yet to embrace digital transformation fully. Malaysia to me, first and foremost, needs to adopt self-care instead of sick-care. And in order to do so, the shift towards digital transformation is a must,” he stressed.
Another issue facing Malaysia and other countries is the small pool of ready talents capable of tackling the paradigm shift to digitalisation. Healthcare management teams firstly need to walk the talk and lead the walk, meaning more action and management
Tomotherapy with Synchrony is an advanced technology that moves together with the patient’ s lungs or prostate to enable precise delivery of Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy( SBRT) to the tumour.
leadership is needed, as the learning curve for going digital is very steep, very long, and very imposing. Lin’ s view is that success will depend on how technology and people operate as one.
Upward and onwards Beyond adopting the latest digital solutions, SJMC is also enhancing its medical technologies with cutting-edge advancements, particularly in roboticassisted procedures. The latest additions include the da Vinci Xi Robotic Surgical System, used for urology, gynaecology, and general surgery, as well as MAKOplasty, a robotic-assisted surgery system for joint replacements.
“ We are committed to advancing patient care through advanced and complex procedures that are evidence-based and outcome-driven. We ensure that every intervention is grounded in the latest research and best practices. Furthermore, we are relentless in tracking patient progress and utilising data to refine our techniques and optimise results.
“ There will also be an upgrade for our MRIs, CT scanners, and imaging devices with AI algorithms that allow for improved patient outcomes through increased precision and efficiency of complex interventions. And, oh yes, improving the capacity for critical care via electronic ICU, where we build a team of healthcare professionals who are critical care trained to remotely monitor ICU patients to ensure deterioration is captured easily,” he said.
SJMC continues to solidify its position as a leader in digital healthcare by being the first in Malaysia to acquire the ExacTrac Dynamic, a software attached to the Linear Accelerator( LINAC), which allows sub-millimetric precision in patient positioning and monitoring during radiotherapy. This system’ s new thermal-surface camera technology works in tandem with low-dose x-ray tracking and real-time motion management for exceptional accuracy. n
GlobalHealthAsiaPacific. com ISSUE 1 | 2025
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