Abstract
Primary Health Care (PHC) is the essential foundation in COVID-19 response globally because it can meet more than 80% of people's health needs. It plays a significant role in gatekeeping and clinical responses in identifying and triaging potential COVID-19 cases, ensuring early diagnosis, helping vulnerable people cope with their anxiety, and reducing the hospital service demand.
In Malaysia, Primary Health Care is the backbone of health system through a vast network of the State Health Departments, District Health Offices and Health Clinics. During the initial pandemic phase, all positive COVID-19 cases were admitted to the hospitals and COVID-19 Quarantine and Treatment Centers ( Pusat Kuarantin & Rawatan COVID 19 [PKRC] ).
Eventfully, in January 2020, as the number of COVID 19 cases increased and the usage of PKRC and hospital beds were approaching to the maximum capacity, Category 1 and Category 2 (mild symptoms) patients had to be instructed to undergo isolation and recuperated at home with monitoring by health care workers. This plan was executed based on the fact that more than 90 percent of COVID-19 cases belonged to Category 1 and 2, in which patients only display mild symptoms or none at all. Therefore, Malaysia's Ministry of Health (MOH) had set up a 213 COVID-19 Assessment Centers (CAC) nationwide.
CAC played a significant role in the COVID-19 response by making an early diagnosis, classifying COVID-19 patient categories to determine subsequent patient management, including home treatment approval, helping vulnerable people coping with their anxiety about the virus, and reducing the demand for hospital services.
Patients who were not suitable for home treatment and monitoring, were to be referred to the ministry's PKRCs and hospitals. Patients suitable to be monitored at home were regularly evaluated by CAC staff using the Home Assessment Tool (HAT), a tool used specifically for assessing patients ' symptoms. Those with worsening symptoms will be managed accordingly, either referral to the PKRC or to the hospital.
Links
- https://apcph.cphm.my/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/APCPH2022-O-11.pdf
- https://apcph.cphm.my/events/oral-session-4-ballroom-A/
BibTeX (Download)
@proceedings{APCPH2022-O-11,
title = {COVID-19 Assessment Center (CAC): Tackling the Pandemic At Primary Care},
author = {Norizah Hj Ibrahim},
url = {https://apcph.cphm.my/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/APCPH2022-O-11.pdf
https://apcph.cphm.my/events/oral-session-4-ballroom-A/},
year = {2022},
date = {2022-08-01},
urldate = {2022-08-02},
issue = {7},
abstract = {Primary Health Care (PHC) is the essential foundation in COVID-19 response globally because it can meet more than 80% of people's health needs. It plays a significant role in gatekeeping and clinical responses in identifying and triaging potential COVID-19 cases, ensuring early diagnosis, helping vulnerable people cope with their anxiety, and reducing the hospital service demand.
In Malaysia, Primary Health Care is the backbone of health system through a vast network of the State Health Departments, District Health Offices and Health Clinics. During the initial pandemic phase, all positive COVID-19 cases were admitted to the hospitals and COVID-19 Quarantine and Treatment Centers ( Pusat Kuarantin \& Rawatan COVID 19 [PKRC] ).
Eventfully, in January 2020, as the number of COVID 19 cases increased and the usage of PKRC and hospital beds were approaching to the maximum capacity, Category 1 and Category 2 (mild symptoms) patients had to be instructed to undergo isolation and recuperated at home with monitoring by health care workers. This plan was executed based on the fact that more than 90 percent of COVID-19 cases belonged to Category 1 and 2, in which patients only display mild symptoms or none at all. Therefore, Malaysia's Ministry of Health (MOH) had set up a 213 COVID-19 Assessment Centers (CAC) nationwide.
CAC played a significant role in the COVID-19 response by making an early diagnosis, classifying COVID-19 patient categories to determine subsequent patient management, including home treatment approval, helping vulnerable people coping with their anxiety about the virus, and reducing the demand for hospital services.
Patients who were not suitable for home treatment and monitoring, were to be referred to the ministry's PKRCs and hospitals. Patients suitable to be monitored at home were regularly evaluated by CAC staff using the Home Assessment Tool (HAT), a tool used specifically for assessing patients ' symptoms. Those with worsening symptoms will be managed accordingly, either referral to the PKRC or to the hospital.},
howpublished = {published online at https://apcph.cphm.my},
note = {Type: ORAL PRESENTATION; Organisation: Family Health Development Division, MOH Putrajaya},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {proceedings}
}