KUALA LUMPUR: KPJ Healthcare Bhd, Malaysia’s leading private healthcare service provider, has launched its KPJ Academic Health System in a bid to establish education and research in hospitals across the country.

The launch took place yesterday at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Center during the Malaysia International Healthcare (MIH) Megatrends 2024 conference.

Officiating the event was Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad together with KPJ Healthcare University President Datuk Syed Mohamed Syed Ibrahim and KPJ Healthcare President Tan Sri Dr Ismail Bakar.

Dzulkefly praised the system as an initiative that brings significant improvements to the nation’s medical landscape.

“By advancing medical education and research through the collaboration between KPJ and KPJ University, it allows us to focus on population health, medical research and the continued development of our healthcare professionals,” he said.

The Minister of Health said that by 2035, it is estimated that 15% of the population will be over 60 years old. “With this comes an increase in non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer,” explained Dzulkefly. .

He added that with such challenges, the health system must adapt accordingly to meet the health challenges of the population.

Syed Mohamed, who is also the chairman and chief executive officer of Johor Corporation, emphasized the need to rethink and reimagine the way healthcare works.

“It’s no longer just about providing treatments, hospitals need to evolve beyond simply being treatment centers, embracing cutting-edge solutions such as artificial intelligence (AI)-based diagnostics and personalized medicine.”

He added that there is a need to shift the focus to preventive care and overall wellness to help create a more sustainable health system.

“This vision is born not of incremental improvements but of necessity and innovation as Malaysia faces an inflection point with 45% of the nation’s healthcare provision coming from private hospitals.

“KPJ Health System will lead the way by bringing together the brightest minds in healthcare, pushing the boundaries of medical research and education,” concluded Syed Mohamed.

Touted as the first of its kind in the country, the latest KPJ Academic Health System aims to align with the country’s long-term healthcare agenda to create a world-class healthcare system.

The system now seeks to integrate education and research into hospitals to transform them into centers of learning and discovery so that practice and innovation can go hand in hand.

This will help improve patient outcomes, foster continuing professional development for healthcare providers, and drive innovative research to address current and future healthcare challenges.

By adopting transformative technologies such as AI, quantum computing and nanomedicine, KPJ Healthcare is setting a new standard for quality healthcare across the country, leading to improved patient outcomes and fostering a new generation of highly skilled healthcare professionals.

This initiative contributes to the government’s efforts to increase access to advanced treatments, reduce health disparities and support the development of specialized care centers that will respond to complex medical cases, strengthening Malaysia’s medical infrastructure.

The launch of the KPJ healthcare system follows an internal soft launch held a week earlier, during which key internal stakeholders were introduced to the system vision.

KPJ Healthcare System is designed to benefit not only KPJ Healthcare patients and staff, but also the wider community through its research-based approach to healthcare and focus on education.

This is achieved through the integration of three essential pillars: “heal”, “teach” and “discover”, which gives rise to the organization’s Care for Life mantra.

The healthcare event, MIH Megatrends 2024, which runs from 25-27 October, brings together around 3,000 healthcare industry players through the collaborative efforts of the Ministry of Health, KPJ Healthcare and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC).

MIH Megatrends 2024 was officiated by His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim, King of Malaysia.