Background/Overview of the Initiative
Online applications involving services provided by the Government are often associated with user-friendly issues, complex system usage procedures and long-lasting service processes. These issues indirectly affect the performance of customer charters and the efficiency of services provided by the Government.
The Pharmacist Registration Management System (PRiSMA) was developed to achieve the following objectives:
1. issue certificates to pharmacists within seven (7) working days; and
2. provide a user-friendly online system, stable system performance and up-to-date data delivery under the management of the Malaysian Pharmacy Board (BLFM) Division.
BLFM acts as the secretariat to the Malaysian Pharmacy Board (LFM) which manages the registration and recognition of pharmacists in Malaysia with an annual workload to issue certificates as follows:
- Annual Retention of Pharmacists of 16,000 (an increase of 1,700 each year);
- Full Registration of Pharmacists of 1,700;
- Provisional Registration of Pharmacists of 1,500;
- Corporate Bodies of 1,500; and
- Provisional Registration of 10.
The development of the PRiSMA system was aspired during the Special Meeting of the Senior Director of Pharmacy Services number 2/2017 on 13 April 2017 as an in-house project as there was no special allocation for its implementation. This project was subsequently taken up and approved by the MOH ICT Committee on 18 February 2018 for implementation.
PRiSMA is built using the Drupal 7 open source application framework based on the PHP 7.2 programming language and MariaDB 10.2 database. This system is driven by the CentOS 7 server operating system and Apache 2.2 web server with “high performance settings” configuration. The development of this system took 8 months to fully develop. This system can be accessed through here on any type of device, operating platform and “browser” software.
Online application development needs to balance three main components in an ecosystem, namely functionality, security and usability. PRiSMA ensures that these three components are fully balanced to produce a technology product that meets the requirements in terms of work processes, security and data integrity, and is easy to use.
Sistem ini memfokuskan kepada beberapa bidang keutamaan yang dijadikan sasaran iaitu:
a. Application process management.
The application process needs to be simplified by replacing the application process via manual forms with a digital form that can be accessed, applied for and reviewed without any limits, time and place.
b. Work process management.
Manual work processes need to be automated by reviewing and re-engineering existing work processes so that they can meet the established customer charters that can be accessed, requested and reviewed without any limits, time and place.
c. Records and file management.
Application forms and attachments received for the application process have been stored in file rooms for over 7 years, resulting in storage space constraints and difficulty accessing old records. All these documents can be converted to digital form for permanent storage (Figures 1 and 2).
Figure 1: Increasingly limited record file storage locations
Figure 2: Applications that have been processed and approved must be filed as a record of record.
d. Financial management.
The manual payment receipt process via postal money order, bank draft or cheque is seen to be burdensome for applicants who need to go to the Post Office or bank counter for payment transactions every year. The direct debit or credit method of receiving money can reduce this burden through the online payment integration method.
e. Reports and statistics generation.
Reporting and statistical generation should be seen as critical outputs today that can be used to measure the performance of an organization. Reports and statistics that can be generated in a short time and accurately using existing input data are very important and can be used in the production of other analyses such as big-data analysis. Furthermore, it can also produce projections according to future needs.
Outcome/Impact
How/what is the contribution of the project to the people
Through the PRiSMA system, the registration application process with the Malaysian Pharmacy Board has become easier in terms of:
a. Time savings
On average, each application takes around 10 – 20 minutes to be submitted completely via PRiSMA. Compared to the previous situation which required applicants to purchase postage and send the application form manually or by post to the LFM office and this opened up the risk of losing documents and so on. The processing of application forms has also been shortened from 7 to 14 days to only 2 to 4 days.
b. Increased productivity levels
All information sent through the system has been cross-checked with standard reference data such as:
1. The applicant's identity card number and full name are checked through integration with the National Registration Department (My identity);
2. the pharmacist's full registration number which is automatically filled in; and
3. CPD points reviewed through integration with the MyCPD system, KKM.
This is different from the previous situation which required applicants to attach their identity card documents and verified CPD points certificates together with the application form.
c. Increased customer satisfaction levels
The results of a customer satisfaction survey collected over a year with a sample size of 6591, showed that on average, the system users were given a score rating of 4 out of 5 (higher scores are better). This finding was also supported by 86.3% of users agreeing that the system can be used without the need for high skills or special tutorial sessions.
d. Other benefits
The authenticity of each digital certificate generated by the system can be verified through the “Digital Signature” technology embedded in each document. This technology makes it difficult to forge and alter information on certificates generated through the system. In addition, through the implementation of “QR Code” technology on each certificate, it allows any individual to cross-check the status of the certificate as well as the information printed on the document.
Achievements – recognition
Innovation Award (Technology Category): Pharmacist Registration Management System (PRiSMA) by the Pharmacy Services Program, MOH Headquarters in 2019
Statistics/Figures/Pictures/Icons
Online Service Transaction Statistics (If Relevant)
Figure 1: Application for Annual Pharmacist Certificate for the year 2020
Figure 2: Application for Full Registration of Pharmacists for the year 2020
Figure 3: Application for Provisional Registration of Pharmacists for the year 2020
Figure 4: Application for Registration of Corporate Organization & Annual Certificate of Corporate Organization for the year 2020
Figure 5: Application for Temporary Registration of Pharmacists for the year 2020
Further Information
Name, telephone and email of the officer to contact:
Mr. Mohd Hadafi bin Mohd Yasim
Chief Senior Assistant Director Grade UF52
Pharmacy Information Technology & Informatics Branch
Pharmacy Policy & Strategic Planning Division
mhadafi@moh.gov.my / 03-7841 3642
Mr. Ahmad Farhan Bin Paiman
Chief Assistant Director Grade UF48
Registration Branch
Malaysian Pharmacy Board Division
farhanpaiman@moh.gov.my / 03-7841 3246
Social Media (FB/Twitter/Insta) if available:
Responsible Agency: Malaysian Pharmacy Board Division, Pharmacy Services Program
Link to Specific Page with FAQ
