Theses (MBA In Healthcare Management)

The public health system in Malaysia is overworked and underfunded, which ultimately causes the private health industry to provide personal health insurance. The insurance industry has direct relevance to the research topic. This study focuses on Personal Health Insurance (PHI) — a product directly offered and managed by insurance companies and Takaful operators. Purchase intention and purchasing decisions fall squarely within the core business operations of insurance product sales, customer acquisition, and policy retention. Therefore, understanding the factors influencing PHI purchase is strategically important for insurance companies to improve product design, marketing strategies, and sales effectiveness. There are frequent and long waiting periods for public health services, due to this, many patients choose to get personal health insurance to avoid the long waiting periods in public health services. Investigating the link between attitude, perceived usefulness, and insurance literacy and the intention to get personal health insurance, as well as the moderating influence of income level on the decision to purchase PHI, is the goal of this study. There are 218 participants in this quantitative study that uses non-probability convenience sampling. Distribution of online surveys with question items modified from earlier research like Al Mamun et al. (21) & Nomi & Sabbir (25) was used to gather data. Prior to the start of extensive data collecting, a PILOT Test was carried out to guarantee the questionnaire's dependability. Initial testing was conducted to assess the data's dependability. The data was compiled and analyzed using SPSS software, and the Multiple Regression Testing as well as Chi-Squared Test measurement was utilized to test the hypothesis. The findings of this study was conducted in Malaysia to indicate that insurance literacy has no significant link with purchasing intention towards PHI. However, attitude and perceived usefulness has a significant link with purchasing intention towards PHI. Regarding the income level, there are various mitigating factors that influenced the decision to purchase PHI. In light of this study, several suggestions were made for further investigation. Keywords: factors influencing purchase intention, attitude, perceived usefulness, insurance literacy, personal health insurance (PHI), income level, moderating effect, purchase decision

Background There is a lack of research in the Malaysian corporate setting on the impact of co- morbid mental health conditions on employee job performance, and the moderating effects of on-the-job training and participation in corporate wellness programmes on the nexus between employees’ stress level and their job performance. Considering the significant economic impact of poor mental health it is worthwhile to address this research gap. Aim This study aims to assess the impact of adverse mental health status as characterized by depression, anxiety and stress, on employee job performance in the Malaysian corporate sector; and to determine if participation in on-the-job training and employee mental health wellness programmes moderates the effect of stress on job performance. Methods/Design This was a quantitative, cross-sectional study among employees of a global oil and gas services company stationed at their Malaysian office. The study instrument was a self-administered bilingual questionnaire that assessed both mental health status and job performance. Appropriate statistical analysis was employed including ANOVA and Chi-square tests, Pearson and Spearman’s correlations and regression analysis. The moderating effect of on-the-job training and participation in mental health programmes on the relationship between stress and job performance was investigated through regression analysis utilizing a newly created interaction variable. Results No significant variation in depression, anxiety and stress level was found across employment units. Job performance was assessed by four domains of absolute absenteeism, relative absenteeism, absolute presenteeism and relative presenteeism. Absolute presenteeism was significantly influenced collectively by depression, anxiety and stress; but individually only by depression. On-the-job training and mental health wellness programmes participation did not significantly moderate the effect of stress and job performance. Conclusion This study confirmed that depression, anxiety and stress all significantly reduce job performance as measured by the sole domain of absolute presenteeism. No evidence was found that participation in on-the-job training or participation in employee mental health wellness programmes moderates the relationship between stress and job performance.

The shortage of Medical Laboratory Scientists (MLS) in private healthcare laboratories is a growing concern due to its impact on laboratory operations and healthcare service delivery. This study aims to investigate the factors contributing to turnover intention, focusing on job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and work engagement. A survey was conducted among MLS in private hospitals across Klang Valley, Malaysia. The results showed that organizational commitment significantly reduces turnover intention. The study underscores the need for strategic interventions, including enhanced organizational support, promoting stronger emotional and professional ties between employees and organization, and fostering a culture of shared value to retain skilled MLS. The results provide valuable insights for healthcare administrators and policymakers in addressing workforce retention challenges in private healthcare laboratories.

The term "mHealth applications" refers to mobile applications or software programs that leverage wireless technologies on smartphones. The widespread availability of these mobile health (mHealth) applications presents significant opportunities for promoting employee wellness within confined workplaces. The objective of this study is to identify the factors influencing the actual use of wellness-related (mHealth) applications among employees at IMU University in Malaysia and to clarify how behavioral intentions impact their usage patterns. This research employs a quantitative cross-sectional design, utilizing a self-administered questionnaire completed online. The questionnaire links two theoretical frameworks. The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) has perceived usefulness and ease of use constructs. The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), with its constructs of performance and effort expectations, social influences, facilitating conditions, and behavioral intention. Together these models help predict how employees accept technology, particularly in understanding the actual utilization of mHealth applications. Factor Analysis and Multiple Regression analysis was applied to the collected data to evaluate the actual utilization of mHealth apps. A total of 148 responses were obtained, representing a 52% response rate. Factor analysis revealed a strong construct validity with factor loadings ranging from 0.552 to 0.940 across all constructs. The measurement instrument demonstrated high reliability with a Cronbach's alpha of 0.96. The study demonstrated Ease of use with a mean score of 3.79 followed by Performance and Effort Expectations with a mean score of 3.73, Facilitating conditions and perceived usefulness had more impact, while Social Influence exhibited limited impact, with a mean score of 2.86. The high mean score (3.52) reflects a general willingness among staff to integrate mHealth wellness apps into their daily routines, if the applications meet their expectations. Behavioral Intention is found to be the most significant predictor showing a strong standardized coefficient (β = 0.580, p < 0.001). In conclusion, this study highlights that behavioral intention is the only predictor with significant relationship with the dependent variable i.e the usage frequency. Social influence as a variable had the least influence on the actual utilization of wellness mobile health applications among IMU university employees. Factors such as performance expectations, perceived usefulness, ease of use, and facilitating conditions play an important role in shaping user perceptions, they are not significant predictors of application use. The evaluation of factors influencing mHealth wellness apps among heavy, moderate, and minimal users is more valuable. The actual utilization data from mobile phones or smart watches will be more accurate than looking at self-perception. Key words: mHealth apps, wellness related apps, healthcare university employee, technology acceptance, smart phones.

This study examines the relationship between health expenditures, economic growth, and health outcomes in ASEAN region. It specifically looks at the impact on life ex­pectancy and infant mortality rates. Using annual dataset from 2000 to 2021 taken from the World Development Index by World Bank, the study applies econometric technique panel ARDL and Dumitrescu-Hurlin causality tests. The findings reveal a significant positive association between public and private health expenditures with life expectancy in the long term, emphasizing the critical role of government spending in improving health outcomes, with the complementing support of the private sectors. However, the mixed impacts of public health expenditure on infant mortality rates sug­gest potential inefficiencies and mis-allocations in health spending. There is a clear link between economic growth with increased life expectancy and infant mortality reduc­tion, which highlights the importance of sustained economic development for better health outcomes. The study also identifies bidirectional causality between GDP per capita and life expectancy. In order to achieve significant improvements in population health, it is crucial to make strategic health investments. Policy implications include the need for targeted policies to address healthcare financing and service delivery dis­parities in ASEAN countries. Governments should effectively allocate health expenditure to ensure equitable access to healthcare services, particularly for vulnera­ble populations. Future research should focus on examining the impact of health interventions and policies, by including other health indicators and factors to gain more comprehensive view into the progress of UHC and to identify best practices. Keywords: health expenditure, economic growth, health outcome, ASEAN