KUALA LUMPUR, 6 MARCH 2009 – A new age of digital healthcare initiatives has come to Asia, says information technology firm GE Healthcare.
Speaking at global Healthcare & Information Systems Society conference (HIMSS AsiaPac09) held in Kuala Lumpur, GE Healthcare IT (Asia Pacific) vice president and general manager Clarence Wu says: “This is an exciting time for us especially in the Asia region,” said Wu. “There is a strong acceleration by emerging countries towards digitisation.”
“In Malaysia, we are working with the Ministry of Health to enable hospitals to have diagnostic solutions online in order to bridge rural to urban medical centre,” he adds. “In this sector, the problem of interoperability in hospitals is a major challenge. We are working on digital integration gateway to help connect devices from different vendors.
“Despite the downturn, we are seeing definite investments by governments in the public medical sector,” said Wu. “In addition, we see that private healthcare in countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, and Korea is demonstrating considerable interest in medical tourism.”
GE Healthcare's broad range of products and services enable healthcare providers to better diagnose and treat cancer, heart disease, neurological diseases and other conditions earlier. Worldwide, GE Healthcare employs more than 46,000 people committed to serving healthcare professionals and their patients in more than 100 countries.
Solutions for Asia
“As part of GE Healthcare solutions in Asia, the Centricity PACS-IW Solutions for hospitals will offer Asia web-based portability, instantaneous image reporting, and scalable business processes,” said Wu. “This single-desktop solution will drive practice efficiency, productivity for the radiologist and immediate results access for the referring physician by fostering a more collaborative approach to patient care and provider partnerships, thus driving better patient care and business practices in an increasingly competitive market.”
