Page 33 - npqh NATIONAL POLICY FOR QUALITY IN HEALTHCARE : Bridging Silos, Accelerating Improvements 2022-2026

National Policy for Quality in Healthcare
Bridging Silos, Accelerating Improvements

Certification and Recertification

» Certification by accredited body is mandatory for a healthcare professional to practise
legally in Malaysia. A certificate known as Annual Practicing Certificate (APC) is
required before a HCP starts practising and needs to be renewed annually.
» The issuance of ACP is governed by specific professional council or board such as
Malaysian Medical Council, Malaysian Nursing Board, Malaysian Dental Council,
Pharmacy Board Malaysia and Medical Assistant Board.
» Among the most recent development is the establishment of Malaysian Allied Health
Professions Council in 2020 which works towards the implementation of mandatory
registration and certification for allied health professions in Malaysia.

Credentialing and Privileging (C&P)
(Year Introduced: 2001- Depending on programme)

» The circular on the “Guidelines on Procedures in the Credentialing and Privileging

System in the MOH” was disseminated in 2001. The initial phase of implementation
involved physicians before being expanded to include the other services under MOH.
» The Credentialing and Privileging System for the Nursing Division, which

was initially under the Allied Health Sciences under the MOH, was handed over to
the Nursing Program in 2016 to continue the system. The nursing division has 12
disciplines under their Credentialing and Privileging system. From 2015-2020,
the overall passing rate for the recredentialing and credentialing of the 12 nursing
disciplines were 97.7% and 95.4% respectively.
» The Pharmacy Program was implementing the credentialing system since

2014, starting with a focus on the pharmacy practice areas. Up until 2020, there
are 16 credentialing fields for pharmacists, and one field for Assistant Pharmacists
established. The cumulative number of pharmacists who had received their
credentialing from 2016 until 2020 is 501 pharmacists.
» Guideline for C&P at Primary Health Care facilities was published in 2010 and

the latest amendment was made in year 2020. Currently, five (5) categories of
officers were included in the guideline: Family Medicine Specialists, Medical Officers,
Assistant Medical Officers, Trained Nurses and Community Nurses.

a. In 2020, total of three (3) procedures have been approved for C&P among Family
Medicine Specialist (FMS), four (4) procedures for medical officer, nine (9)
procedures for assistant medical officer, nine (9) procedures for trained nurse
and four (4) procedures for community nurse.
b. The number of health personnel given C&P for the last 5 years was 2,606 in
2016; 2,765 in 2017; 3,247 in 2018; 3,362 in 2019 and 1,349 in 2020. During
the 5-year period, 48.8% of those given C&P were community nurses, 22.3%
were trained nurses, 10.6% were medical officers, 9.3% were assistant medical
officers and 0.2% were FMS.

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