MSCM Holdings Bhd announced that its subsidiary, HS Bio Supplies Sdn Bhd (HSBS) has entered into a strategic partnership with and investment into eMedAsia Sdn Bhd to provide third-party logistics (3PL) and fourth-party logistics (4PL) for the purpose of medical marketplace platform, e-health, e-medicine and mobile testing for communicable diseases and viruses.
MSCM is a company that is currently involved in the business of investment holding, search & advertising, information technology, supply chain management and moneylending business.
On Aug 5, 2020, MSCM had issued a Letter of Intent to eMedAsia, which was accepted by eMedAsia, indicating the group’s interest to invest a total of RM2.0 million for a 20 per cent stake in eMedAsia and to be an exclusive logistic services provider.
Meanwhile, eMedAsia is a private limited company with a majority stake held by Koperasi Persatuan Perubatan Malaysia (KOOP MMA). KOOP MMA is the investment vehicle for members of the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA), which is the main representative body for all registered medical practitioners in Malaysia. MMA has 14,000 registered doctors in its association, and 35,000 doctors on its continuing professional development (CPD) platform.
A digital project initiative started by KOOP MMA, eMedAsia aims to empower private clinics to leverage their digital platform technology to procure medicine, provide telemedicine services, and access other healthcare-related services. As of May 2020, eMedAsia has onboarded almost 2,000 registered private clinics across West and East Malaysia out of the total 6,000 private clinics in the nation, and this number of member clinics is constantly growing.
MSCM executive director Jeff Chong said: “Today, MSCM will partner KOOP MMA in eMedAsia Sdn Bhd to take Malaysian healthcare into a new era.
“Millions of Malaysian will have the option to consult physicians via their computers and mobile phones instead of physical appointments, and have prescription medicine delivered to their doorstep in the near future. Member clinics of eMedAsia will also benefit from 3PL and 4PL services which will lower the cost of inventory investment, and enjoy better rates for bulk purchase arrangement and friendly credit payment terms from suppliers. We are hopeful that, with the integration of technology, e-commerce and last-mile logistics, healthcare will become more accessible and more affordable to all Malaysians.”
During the event, eMedAsia had also signed a separate partnership with GeneFlux Bioscience Sdn Bhd. This will allow member clinics to access GeneFlux’s RT-PCR Covid-19 lab testing services (as well as other lab testing services) via eMedAsia’s digital platform.
Honorary general secretary of MMA & chairmain of KOOP MMA Dr Thirunavukarasu Rajoo commented: “We designed and developed these digital services for the purpose of optimising clinical operations, and by incorporating components such as e-commerce and e-health technology through a shared services concept, as well as business process automation, more health-related providers can participate in the ecosystem to complement and complete the current services offered by individual clinics. For example, permitted member clinics can now conduct disease and virus testing, then proceed to instruct HSBS on the eMedAsia digital platform to handle and deliver test samples to designated medical labs. Clinic appointment bookings and e-medicine are also some of the other services that can be entirely done on the eMedAsia digital platform.”
Malaysian Medical Association president Dr Ganabaskaran Nadason also shared his opinion on the occasion: “Although the Covid-19 situation has been managed superbly by the Government on the advice of the Ministry of Health, we need to continue to stay vigilant by reducing our interactions in public.