EMPLOYERS must be wary of non-healthcare private companies or middle-men offering COVID-19 screening services.
The Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) has been informed of certain middle-men who are marketing COVID-19 screening services to employers.
These private businesses had targeted struggling general practitioners (GPs) and attempted to squeeze them for the lowest professional fees in order to earn a bigger cut from the employers.
MMA is deeply concerned, that if professional fees are not charged as per the work done, it may not cover the costs of screening and this may lead to the quality of care being compromised.
It wished to remind GPs of their professional obligations and that they will be held fully responsible for any neglect in their duties as physicians.
The GPs are now conducting the mandatory COVID-19 screening of foreign workers in the country and therefore we must ensure that the highest standards of care is maintained, MMA told FocusM.
There are 1.7 million documented foreign workers and an estimated 3 million undocumented.
“The MMA takes a serious view of this. Employers have already been informed by Social Security Organisation (Socso) to directly contact the GPs for the COVID-19 screening services,” stressed MMA president Datuk Dr Subramaniam Muniandy.
“In fact, it costs less for employers to directly discuss the professional fees with the GPs as there will be no ‘middle-men fee’ included.”
Under the Socso COVID-19 mandatory screening programme for foreign workers, the RTK Antigen kits are provided at no charge to the participating GPs and only the professional fees are charged to employers.
There are currently 626 clinics on Socso’s panel to conduct the screening of foreign workers. The full list is available on Socso’s website.
“The Rapid Test Kits-Antigen (RTK-AG) swab tests can only be performed by trained healthcare professionals and under strict infectious disease prevention guidelines by the Health Ministry (MOH),” he pointed out.
MMA warns that a person may be at serious risk of injury, health issues or a false negative result if the swab tests are performed incorrectly.
All GP clinics must also conduct a pre assessment and keep medical records of the patients who are being screened for COVID-19. Each patient that has undergone the RTK-AG swab test must be registered under Public Health Laboratory Test Result System (Simka) where certificates are generated and given to the patient with stringent infection prevention and control (IPC) maintained throughout the process.
To ensure full compliance to MOH guidelines in conducting the RTK-AG screening, MMA has requested that Private Medical Practice Control (CKAPS) conduct an audit on clinics particularly when the mass screenings are taking place.
To conduct the COVID-19 screenings, a self-declaration is required from the participating GPs.
MMA welcomes this move by CKAPS as it has cut down the red tape in the application process. It is also a form of self-regulation to ensure GPs fully comply with MOH guidelines and are held fully responsible in conducting the screenings. – Dec 11, 2020
