KUALA LUMPUR, 19 JANUARY 2009 – Global not-for-profit and non-governmental healthcare organisation HIMSS has chosen Malaysia to host its major annual IT healthcare conference and exhibition.
HIMSS Asia Pacific vice president and executive director Steven Yeo said, “HIMSS AsiaPac09—24 - 27 February 2009—is an ideal platform for healthcare IT stakeholders to connect and exchange ideas and get the latest updates on worldwide healthcare IT trends. We chose to hold HIMSS AsiaPac09 in Malaysia because Kuala Lumpur is the gateway for healthcare organisations and is easily accessible from many major cities in the Asia Pacific region, which makes it the perfect location to host next year’s event.
Yeo said that the staging of HIMSS AsiaPac08, held in Hong Kong, attracted more than 1500 healthcare IT leaders in the region to share best practices, and discover the latest innovations to advance quality healthcare through IT.
“HIMSS AsiaPac09 comes at an opportune time as the Malaysian government considers its healthcare industry as one of its top priorities and many initiatives are in place to boost the country’s Healthcare sector,” said Yeo. “This includes improving existing hospitals’ quality care through use of Health IT, upgrading facilities and improving training for its healthcare professionals.”
Founded in 1961 and with a membership of more than 20,000, the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (www.himssasiapac.org) is the healthcare industry's membership organisation exclusively focused on providing global leadership for the optimal use of healthcare information technology and management systems for the betterment of healthcare.
Facing fundamental healthcare issues
Yeo added that the Malaysian ministry of health, director general, Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Dr. Haji Mohd Ismail Bin Merican is scheduled to deliver the opening keynote address at the HIMSS AsiaPac09, which will offer more than 30 education sessions covering topic areas by speakers representing over 14 countries.
“Healthcare is facing fundamental issues in costs, accessibility and quality of care,” said Yeo. “Together with the aging population across the globe and especially in the Asia Pacific region, the healthcare sector will need to focus on reducing delivery cost of care and the administrative cost of the healthcare system.”
“It is thus imperative that healthcare organisations recognise the issues and respond with effective processes and technologies for delivering superior care, and this includes the widespread adoption of healthcare IT systems to deliver improvements in the quality and accessibility of care and also lowering costs,” said Yeo.
