Surviving Private Practice In Malaysia

In this episode I will discuss the importance of learning the Art of Asking when working in Private Practice. I will discuss the book of the same title by Amanda Palmar and how it can be applied in Private Practice.

Overthinking is the tendency to ponder all possible outcomes when an event occurs. It's something that happens to all of us, but learning to manage it is crucial, especially for doctors in private practice. In the book entitled "Soundtracks: The Surprising Solution to Overthinking" , Jon Acuff. delves into the concept of overthinking and offers practical steps to conquer it. He intro...

In the medical profession, a difficult case refers to a patient with a complex or challenging medical condition that is difficult to diagnose, manage or treat. I have always wondered whether it is worthwhile doing difficult cases in Private Practice. In this episode I will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of doing difficult cases in Private Practice and give some advice to young specialist...

Under-promise and over-deliver was a term coined by business author and speaker Tom Peters, in 1987. His concept is to set lower expectations and then deliver more than what was promised. The concept is simple: a good surprise is much better than a bad surprise. In other words, stakeholders would much rather find out their expectations were exceeded than unmet. Is this a good strategy? In this epi...

In this episode I will look at different group practices among specialists in Private Practice and discuss its advantages and disadvantages.

In this episode I will compare the airline industry with the healthcare industry. By learning from mistakes the airline industry has improved their safety record. This is not so in the health care industry. I will discuss why this is so and attempt to give some suggestions as to how doctors can learn from mistakes.

When I was younger, I always wondered what I could do to make organizers select me as a speaker in their conferences. I must say, I have come a long way in this area. Here, are some strategies I have adopted which  I hope will serve as a guide for young doctors who have the ambition of becoming speakers to your peers.

I have always wondered what are the reasons for moving your practice from one hospital to another. Is staying in one hospital for a long time considered loyal. Do hospitals appreciate long staying doctors? In this episode I will contemplate these questions and discuss the advantages and disadvatages of staying in one hospital or moving your practice to another hospital.

I learned very early in my career about the importance of keeping data to improve myself as a doctor. In this podcast I will describe the  challenges I went through over the last 28 years as a private practitioner to keep good data which helped me to learn from my patients. I will also give some tips to young doctors going into private practice how to organize yourselves and keep good data.

In this episode I will try to discuss about dealing with your colleagues in private practie. This will include touching on a sensitive topic of jealousy in private practice and how to avoid and deal with it. 

The operating theater, to me, is the actual “engine” of a hospital. It is the place where the most revenue (per unit time spent) is made by the hospital and the surgeons. Optimal running of the operating theatre is vital for the success of any private hospital. Every private hospital has its own system for booking cases for surgery. It is very important to have a proper system because the employme...

When working in private practice, one of the difficulties is to get good assistants in performing your work. In this episode I will be discussing my experience in training nurses to assist me and the frustration I faced when trained nurses leave. This led me to employing my own personal nurse. I will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of having your own personal nurse in Private Practice.&nb...

In this episode, I will be discussing about Mark-ups of drugs and medical devices in Private Practice. Mark-up of Drugs and medical supply plays an important part in generating revenue for a hospital. In this podcast I will be answering several questions regarding mark-ups : 1. Why are mark-ups necessary? 2. How is mark-up done 3. Should hospitals inform doctors of their mark-up policy?, Who monit...

The Private Healthcare Facilities and Services Act 1998 (Act 586) and Regulations 2006 (PHFA) on the medical practice in the corporate private hospitals (for profit) in Malaysia was implemented on the 1st May 2006. The whole of the doctors fee schedule is included in this Act.  In this podcast I will discuss the many flaws in this Act that is actually stifling medical progress in Malaysia esp...

Our brains can probably hold 5 or 6 items at one time.  Beyond that, we will miss things. A checklist is a type of job aid used to reduce failure by compensating for the  potential limits of human memory and attention. It helps to ensure consistency and completeness in carrying out a task. In this episode I will discuss how I use checklist during my surgeries as well as how I use checkli...

The general view among doctors is that it is better to be a specialist in your field than a generalist in your field. In this podcast I will discuss the benefits of being a generalist or better still being a specialist but also have a good idea of being a generalist. I will also give some of my thoughts on how you should prepare yourself when training to be a specialist or subspecialist.

Malaysia is now experiencing a glut of doctors. Many young doctors will be moving to General Practice. Mr Allan Fernandez has 22 years of experience in the health care industry. He runs the Asia Group Practice in JB. He will give his views of what is expected of doctors joining General Practice and the future of General Practice in Malaysia.

Walk-in patients are not uncommon in private practice in Malaysia. In this episode I will discuss the pros and cons of having an appointment system in your clinic and give some tips as to how to deal with walk-in patients. 

Datuk Dr. Tamil Selvam is a consultant Cardiologist at CVS KL. Having worked in a corporate hospital before, he will explain the difference between working in a corporate hospital and working in a hospital that he partially owns. 

Writing Medical Reports is one of job that I despise. In this episode I will explain why I hate writing medical reports as well as give some tips as to how to make writing medical reports easier. 

A grandfather clause is a provision whereby an old rule continues to apply to some existing situations while a new rule applies to all future cases. In this episode I will describe how "the grandfather clause" affects medical practitioners in Malaysia

What is a kickback? The dictionary describes it as an illicit payment made to someone in return for facilitating a transaction or appointment. Fee splitting is the practice of sharing fees with professional colleagues, such as physicians or lawyers, in return for referrals. In this episode I will discuss how kick back and fee splitting has infiltrated Private Practice in Malaysia

Maternity hospitals were popular in the 80's and 90's. Before joining Mahkota Medical Centre, I actually toyed with the idea of opening my own maternity centre. In this episode I will be talking to Dr. Jaspal Singh, Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist at Park City Medical Centre who was running a maternity centre for many years before joining a private hospital. He will give his experience w...

Credentialing and Privileging  is a process that every private hospital have to undertake for all physicians practicing in that hospital. It is important for doctors to understand this process and to be prepared for it. In this podcast I will discuss my experience with Credentialing and Privileging  and I will give some advice to doctors planning to move to private practice. 

Disposable instruments are commonly used by surgeons especially during lapararoscopic surgery.  Disposable instruments are expensive. Can we reuse them instead of throwing them away after single use. Is it ethical to reuse disposable instruments? In this podcast I will discuss my experience using disposable instruments and give some advice to young doctors venturing into private practice.&nbs...