KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 20 — Three specialist doctors’ groups told the government today to exclude doctors’ professional fees from the proposed diagnosis-related groups (DRG) payment system and Reset strategy.
Instead, the Association of Specialists in Private Medical Practice (ASPMP), the Malaysian Urological Association (MUA), and the Malaysian Paediatric Association (MPA) called for a comprehensive review of consultation and procedure fees by doctors in private hospitals that have stagnated for more than a decade since 2013 under Schedule 13 of the Private Healthcare Facilities and Services Act 1998 (Act 586).
“This stagnation has failed to account for inflation, rising operational costs, and the increasing complexity of medical care; eroded the real income of medical practitioners, leading to financial strain and demotivation; and hindered the ability of doctors to invest in continuous professional development, advanced medical technologies, and quality patient care,” ASPMP, MUA, and MPA said in a joint statement.
“Including these already suppressed fees in the DRG and Reset strategies would further institutionalise this inequity, making it impossible for doctors to sustain their practices without compromising on quality.”
The three doctors’ associations urged the government to establish an independent commission comprising health care professionals, economists, and policymakers to recommend a fair and sustainable fee structure.
“Implement periodic revisions indexed to inflation and aligned with regional benchmarks to ensure competitiveness and fairness,” added ASPMP, MUA, and MPA.
The doctors’ groups pointed out that the DRG system – which reimburses health care providers based on an episode of care, rather than fee-for-service – is designed for hospital charges, not professional fees.
“The DRG system is primarily a hospital billing mechanism designed to standardise payments for hospital stays and procedures based on diagnosis and treatment complexity,” said ASPMP, MUA, and MPA.
They said DRG doesn’t adequately reflect the skill, expertise, and time invested by doctors in patient care; the variability in patient conditions and individualised treatment plans; as well as the cognitive and decision-making roles of doctors that aren’t captured by procedural codes alone.
“Applying DRG to professional fees would oversimplify and undervalue the critical contributions of doctors, reducing their role to mere proceduralists rather than holistic caregivers,” said the doctors’ associations.
ASPMP, MUA, and MPA further claimed that capping professional fees under DRG or Reset may threaten quality of care and patient safety.
Rushed consultations and shorter patient-doctor interactions as doctors strive to manage higher patient volumes to maintain income,” they said.
“Reduced incentives for doctors to take on complex cases, which require more time and expertise but may not be adequately compensated under a fixed-fee model.
“Potential brain drain, as talented doctors seek better opportunities abroad where their skills are appropriately valued. Ultimately, this could compromise patient safety, clinical outcomes, and the overall standard of health care in Malaysia.”
The three doctors’ groups said a rigid DRG-based fee structure disincentivises specialists and subspecialists who undergo extensive training and incur significant costs to achieve expertise in their fields.
“It may discourage doctors from pursuing specialisation, exacerbating existing shortages in critical fields such as oncology, cardiology, urology and neurosurgery. This could worsen health care disparities, particularly for patients requiring advanced medical interventions.”
While DRG is under the Ministry of Health’s (MOH) purview, the government’s Reset strategy to curb medical inflation is led by Bank Negara Malaysia.
During the tabling of Budget 2026 in Parliament last October, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who is also the finance minister, announced that Schedule 7 of Act 586 would be revised to raise private general practitioners’ (GP) consultation fee ceiling from RM35 to RM80.
However, the minimum RM10 fee was left unchanged since the 1992 MMA fee schedule more than three decades ago.
