KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 10): The National Heart Institute (IJN) is seeking a 10-40% increase in the fees it charges patients that the Ministry of Health outsources to it, saying a review is necessary given inflation and rising costs, as the fee structure was set over 20 years ago in 2003.
"Healthcare costs have gone up but we still charge the government the original costs [set in 2003]. For example, we have additional doctors or nurses, we don't charge them for it, we have to bear the cost," said its newly appointed chief executive officer Prof Datuk Seri Dr Mohamed Ezani Md Taib.
"So, we are seeking a fee review, an increase of 10% to 40%, depending on the procedure," Ezani, who took over the top post at IJN on Sept 1, told the media during a luncheon briefing at the IJN on Thursday.
"No matter how much we increase, it will not reach what private hospitals charge," he said, citing as example a simple bypass surgery that can cost about RM110,000-RM120,000 in the private hospitals currently can cost about RM40,000 to RM50,000 in IJN.
He also said IJN is discussing with MOH about having "a proper discharge methodology or system" to correct whatever loopholes in the current discharge procedure so that MOH-funded patients still needing cardiology care are not missed out and discharged prematurely into the general MOH hospitals.
He said this in response to the issue of pensioners funded by MOH complaining that they had been discharged from IJN despite still needing treatment due to the government's cost-cutting measure.
The MOH, however, clarified in February, when the issue cropped up, that patients are only discharged from IJN to MOH hospitals when their conditions are stable, saying the strategic approach maximises cost-effectiveness and allows about 4,000 new patients to be referred to IJN annually.
Ezani, meanwhile, also shared that the number of patients IJN serves has been plateauing in recent years — it served 334,445 outpatients and 18,324 inpatients last year, little changed from the 338,213 outpatients and 17,986 inpatients it treated in 2022.
This is because IJN has maxed out its capacity, he said, and the reason why the institute is expanding its capacity via a two-phase expansion that will add 120 beds to the hospital.
IJN is also looking to increase its intake of private and foreign patients, he said, which currently account for 14.9% and 0.4% of its total patients. MOH-funded patients account for 67.8% of its total patients. The ideal ratio, he said, would be about 65% MOH-funded patients and 30% private patients, including foreign.