KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 23): UCrest Bhd will continue to approach the medical community globally, as well as the Ministry of Health to promote the adoption of online healthcare services.

Founder and Chairman Eg Kah Yee said the company was collaborating with more than 20 hospitals in Russia, China, the United States, Singapore and Taiwan.

“Before this we focused only on hospitals and doctors but now we have widened our target to private insurance providers, as well as, pharmaceutical companies,” he told reporters after UCrest's annual general meeting here today.

The group achieved a record high net profit of RM14.85 million for the financial year ended May 31, 2018 compared with a net loss of RM800,000 in the previous year.

Commenting on the local healthcare sector, Eg said the company was in the midst of talking to the health ministry on introducing the online medical services.

“We have been engaging with the ministry for almost six months... for instance, in the United States, the number of hospitals beds have been declining due to the adoption of this online healthcare system.

'’So, we hope Malaysia will experience the same thing where patients can be treated at home,” he explained.

In the 2019 Budget announcement, allocation for health services was increased to RM29 billion from last year's allocation of RM27 billion.

The government, via a private insurance company, will soon introduce a National Health Protection Fund for the B40 group. 

This scheme, expected to commence on Jan 1, 2019 will provide free coverage for four critical illnesses for up to RM8,000 and a maximum of 14 days replacement income.

The total market size of the global healthcare market stood at US$20.58 billion in 2016 and was forecast to hit US$81.51 billion by 2024.

The United States remained the largest market at 33 per cent for online medicine while Asia Pacific came in second with compounded annual growth rate of 25 per cent for the 2016-2024 period.