Evaluating The Collaboration Level Among Physicians in Malaysian Healthcare Environment

Collaboration is an important requirement in the healthcare environments (Hospitals) to exchange information among medical researchers that can inform on critical decisions related to healthcare services. Both scientific research and medical treatment can benefit significantly from the sharing of healthcare information among different organizations. In the healthcare sector, the term “collaboration” refers to the communication which takes place among healthcare practitioners during the information and skills sharing with regards caring of a patient [1]. In healthcare sector, collaboration takes place when healthcare professionals work with one another to achieve certain goals in patient care by sharing responsibility in solving a problem and taking decisions [2]. In most developing country, there is a lack of collaboration among hospitals in sharing healthcare information. According to that, about 85% of public hospitals in Malaysia have delayed in adopting and implementing the HISs, which may negatively affect the Malaysian vision of 2020, which is to become a developed country [3]. Moreover, the collaboration which exists among physicians when they share information using HISs for the treatment of patients in hospital environments of several developing nations, is very weak. Team members’ awareness with regards to their respective knowledge and skills, is increased when collaboration takes place and this further leads to improvements in decision making [4]. According to a study, a suitable communication system is needed for proper collaboration among health workers and physicians [5]. A quantitative method of enquiry was used for this study in the two public hospitals in Selangor state in Malaysia, by using questionnaire instrument. The responses received and analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS). The result of the analysis showed the current level of collaboration among physicians within the hospitals with regard sharing information using HIS, which was lack.