KUALA LUMPUR, May 7 — The Federation of Private Medical Practitioners’ Associations Malaysia (FPMPAM) has questioned a survey by the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) about private general practitioner (GP) clinics’ income.
FPMPAM president Dr Shanmuganthan TV Ganeson said the reported figures appeared to refer to clinic business revenue rather than doctors’ personal income, which are very different concepts.
A GP clinic’s revenue must cover staff salaries and statutory contributions, medicines and consumables, rental and utilities, digital systems and cybersecurity, licensing and regulatory compliance, indemnity insurance and medicolegal costs, and maintenance and operational overheads.
“In many practices, the revenue also supports multiple doctors and health care workers,” Dr Shanmuganathan said in a statement.
He also raised questions about MMA’s survey methodology, such as sampling methods, urban versus rural distribution, solo versus group practice structures, whether figures represent gross billings or net income, adjustment for operational expenditure, and whether the findings underwent independent or peer review.
“Health care economics is complex, and simplified headline numbers may unintentionally create misunderstanding among the public,” said Dr Shanmuganathan.
“The larger issue is not about doctors ‘earning less’ or ‘earning more’, but whether Malaysia’s community-based primary care system can remain sustainable in the long term.”
MMA president Dr R. Arasu reportedly said recently that the association’s study of nearly 2,000 GP clinics nationwide found that more than 70 per cent were struggling to stay afloat with monthly incomes of below RM60,000.
FPMPAM called for policy discussions to focus on sustainable primary care financing, fair reimbursement structures, reduction of unnecessary regulatory burdens, strengthening public-private collaboration, and preserving accessible neighbourhood health care services for Malaysians.
“The sustainability of private GP clinics is not merely a professional issue; it is fundamentally a public health care access issue,” said Dr Shanmuganthan.
“When neighbourhood clinics remain viable, patients benefit from timely, affordable, accessible, and continuous care close to home. Strong community-based primary care also helps reduce congestion in public health care facilities.”
