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How to Set Up Clinic in Malaysia
You’ve been a practicing doctor for some time now and after several years of experience, you feel that you are finally ready to take the next step and open your very own clinic in Malaysia. How would you go about doing so?
In Malaysia, it is the Ministry of Health which is responsible for monitoring and regulating all the private healthcare facilities and services which have been legally established in the country through their Medical Programme. The Licensing Unit on the other hand, is responsible for the licensing of private hospitals, private maternity homes and private nursing homes, although initially this was done with limited capabilities.
Because there was an increase in demand for better private healthcare facilities and services, a more suitable law needed to be put in place and a better role for the Licensing Unit became a need. And that was how the Private Healthcare Facilities and Services Act 1998 came to be.
According to the Private Healthcare Facilities & Services Act 1998 and Regulations 2006, a private clinic in Malaysia is one that is set up on any premise, other than a government healthcare facility, that is used or intended to be for the practice of medicine and outpatient treatment. The treatments include:
- The screening, diagnosis and treatment of a person suffering or believed to be suffering from any disease, injury or disability of the mind or body
- Preventive or promotive healthcare services
- The caring or alleviating of an abnormal condition of the human body
Steps to Setting Up a Clinic
Once you have established that you would like to set up a clinic of your own, you would need to take the following steps to open a clinic in Malaysia:
- Step 1 : Ensure the premise is either rented or a building you own.
- Step 2 : Apply for the registration with the respective state (required by the Private Healthcare Facilities & Services Act 2016).
- Step 3 : Prepare a drawn plan of the clinic which will need to fully comply with the room list and measurement requirements as stipulated in the ACT 586.
- Step 4 : Amend the Annual Practicing Certificate (APC) to include your new clinic address
- Step 5 : Obtain a license for the clinic advertisement from the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) or Local Council.
- Step 6 : APC is required to order drug supplies.
- Step 7 : Ensure the EPF and SOCSO accounts of the staff are completed.
- Step 8 : If x-ray machines are provided by the clinic, you will need to obtain a specific license which will allow you to do so.
All clinics would need to be registered with the Companies Commission of Malaysia under the Registration of Business Act 1956. Foreign companies would need to incorporate their company under the Companies Act 2016 if they intend to set up a private practice here in Malaysia.