by Tan Aik Keong (AK)
Featuring insights from Dr Choy Wai Mun, CEO and founder of local healthtech companies DOC2US and Heydoc Health, a council member of the Association of Digital Health Malaysia, and an industry advisory member at Universiti Malaya and IMU University.
Private GP consultation fees in Malaysia, largely unchanged for years, have become a real point of tension. The Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) recently proposed adjusting GP fees upward by 10% annually to keep pace with inflation and rising operating costs. But is that actually a sustainable fix?
As someone working in healthtech, I understand how important GPs are to community healthcare, and the financial pressure they're under. But simply raising consultation fees risks a chain reaction — heavier costs for patients, less willingness to seek care, and more people pushed toward already-overstretched public hospitals.
The global healthcare industry is actively exploring how technology and AI can optimise the healthcare system and give GPs better efficiency and new revenue streams, rather than relying purely on fee increases. That's the direction that actually matters for healthcare's future.
Fee hikes risk overloading public healthcare
Many Malaysians currently rely on private clinics for fast, convenient care. If GP fees rise significantly, lower-income patients may cut back on visits altogether, or shift directly to already-crowded government hospitals and clinics.
GPs, as the first line of community healthcare, deserve fair compensation — but a pay model that depends purely on rising per-consultation fees isn't sustainable in the long run.
How AI and technology can lift GP efficiency and revenue
AI and healthtech are changing how traditional GP practices operate. Doctors can now use technology to improve operational efficiency and care quality while diversifying revenue. For example:
AI-assisted diagnosis — AI can help doctors quickly analyse patient history, symptoms and test results, improving diagnostic accuracy, reducing misdiagnosis, and shortening consultation time so GPs can see more patients.
Electronic health records and automated patient management — EHR systems let doctors manage patient data more efficiently and cut down on paperwork, freeing GPs to focus on care. Heydoc Health is one such smart health-management platform, helping GPs manage patient records and lift day-to-day efficiency.
Telemedicine — already a genuine new revenue model, letting GPs expand their practice through video consultations and online follow-ups, beyond the limits of a physical clinic's opening hours. DOC2US is currently pushing telemedicine adoption nationwide, letting GPs both extend their reach and add a new income stream.
Personalised health management and preventive care — AI analysis lets GPs more precisely predict and manage chronic conditions like diabetes and hypertension, offering personalised health guidance. This kind of long-term management builds a stable patient base while lifting care quality.
Insurance and payment integration — technology can also help GPs build closer partnerships with insurers and payers. Through data analysis, doctors could work with insurers on more precise health-management plans, earning service-based rewards rather than relying purely on consultation fees.
Toward a more sustainable GP payment model
Beyond technology, health systems globally are also exploring more scientifically grounded compensation models for GPs:
Capitation: GPs are paid a fixed amount based on the number of registered patients, rather than purely on consultation volume — encouraging long-term health management over short-term treatment.
Value-based payment: a doctor's income is tied to patient health outcomes rather than service volume — rewarding GPs for improving patients' overall health through education and chronic-disease management.
Bundled payment: combining consultation fees with chronic-disease management and health screening into a single package, providing more comprehensive care while securing fair GP income.
Insurer- or payer-led incentives: encouraging GPs to deliver more efficient, higher-quality care, rather than relying purely on rising fees.
Closing: technology plus reform builds a sustainable healthcare ecosystem
Raising GP fees can work as a short-term compensating measure, but over the long run we need more scientifically grounded, sustainable healthcare reform — one that gives GPs fair income while keeping care affordable for patients. Government, insurers, payers, healthtech companies and healthcare institutions need to work together on a fairer, more efficient community healthcare model.
Technology can be a genuine pillar of GPs' future, letting doctors move past relying on a single fee source and instead diversify their service model to lift both care quality and income — a real long-term solution, not just a price adjustment. We shouldn't keep circling the fee question alone; we should be asking how to genuinely improve the healthcare ecosystem and build a more sustainable, intelligent future for it.
Part of the AK AI Corner column. Originally published in Oriental Daily (东方日报) on Mar 8, 2025.