Building Value Based Healthcare Business Models Essay Example

Building Value Based Healthcare Business Models Essay The task the industries face-?demonstrating value based on a product focus-?is far from simple. For one thing, there are inherent limitations to the value a single drug can bring to the management of complex, chronic diseases, where therapeutic success is determined not only by the molecule but by a combination Of drugs, physician intervention, home assistance, and lifestyle changes. Moreover, providing better health outcomes in exchange for fewer resources means that medications and interventions must be targeted to the right patients. However, personalized medicine has yet to significantly permeate he operating models of the pharmaceutical and medical technology industries. But perhaps most importantly, recent value-based price negotiations have revealed a dramatic lack of trust on both sides of the table. The pharmaceutical industry has often been accused of using its marketing machinery to churn out pills that deliver high margins no matter what value they bring to patients. And the industry perceives healthcare payers restrictions as short-sighted penny-pinching that inhibits access to medicines and curbs innovation. In this climate, agreeing on the definition of value, let lone on the standards of evidence for value, is difficult. And indeed, even as healthcare payers push providers to show evidence of outcome, they continue to steer their spending via strict cost control. As a result, arbitrary price pressures (including forced rebates) are exerted on products in the current portfolio, and it is increasingly difficult to get new products approved for reimbursement. We will write a custom essay sample on Building Value Based Healthcare Business Models specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Building Value Based Healthcare Business Models specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Building Value Based Healthcare Business Models specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The outlook may be muddled, but one thing is clear: Players will need to radically adapt. Medical technology companies will struggle to command a price premium for new technology and will need to develop user-friendly, affordable solutions. And pharmaceutical companies, traditionally product- focused organizations, will need to readjust their processes, all the way from development through marketing, to collect and promote evidence of the value their products provide to the healthcare system. Capturing Value with Patient-Centric Solutions Is there an innovative way to deal with the value challenge? Several companies are embracing patient-centric solutions as an alternative business model to the traditional product focus. These models-?exemplified in the United Kingdom by Pfizer Health Solutions, a division that runs integrated are programs for chronic diseases-?aim to increase quality of life and avoid costly hospital treatments by offering prevention, early diagnosis, and remote care to chronically ill patients. The value proposition for healthcare payers is evident: These programs seek to reduce costs and, in theory, can legitimately aspire to be commissioned by a national health service (think the United Kingdom) or reimbursed by health insurance companies (for example, in Germany, the Netherlands, and Switzerland) or local health authorities (think Italy)-?whether on a per-patient or per-time basis, or using a risk-sharing del. Innovative solutions can be driven by technology such as remote monitoring or e-health applications or by medical understanding of certain diseases-?the distinguishing competencies 2 of medical technology and pharmaceutical companies respectively. Philips, for example, launched its Motivate telekinetic remote monitoring program based on its device tech oenology but provides an integrated service. 1 Austereness, on the other hand, teamed up with Singer Health System in the United States to develop an e-health initiative to reduce cardiovascular disease and improve patient care. Additionally, smaller companies and start-ups are developing a Wide range of services. For example, Tallies, an Italian e-health company, provides telekinetic services to national and local payers, and SSL Telekinetic provides services to health insurance companies in Israel and Germany. Where do patient-centric solutions stand? Of course, providing health solutions is not a new idea, and neither is applying IT in health services. In the past decade, there has been no shortage of ideas on how communications technologies could revolutionize the delivery of health services. Certainly, the hype cycle has gone a full round. Similarly, pharmaceutical companies have discussed services as a possibility for adjacent innovation and life-cycle management every now and then. But the expectations voiced a decade ago remain unfulfilled, resulting in widespread skepticism about whether this time is different. But for several reasons, this time is different. For one thing, the product- based pharmaceutical business model has been under more pressure than ever. Ten years back, sovereign healthcare payers still had money, and the sequencing of the human genome promised to make drug innovation easier, quicker, and cheaper. Neither holds true today. And over the years, market players have learned that patient-centric health solutions are not just another application of information and communication technology-?popular thinking in the midst of the dot. Com boom-?but need viable value propositions for the health system. The learning curve has improved, and examples of patient- centric health solutions can be found in many healthcare markets. A look at more than 1 00 services now offered by pharmaceutical and medical technology companies reveals a continuum that ranges from products to stand-alone, value-based services: Product-related services have evolved straight from the products. Examples include patient adherence programs such as Roachs Motivation, Advice, and Proactive (MAP) Support Program for patients prescribed Conical obesity treatment, Chastenesss interactive online program for asthma patients taking Symbiotic, or Innovators Extract support program for multiple sclerosis patients. In medical technology, the Philips Ambient Experience lets patients personalize their exam room with lights, images, and sounds-?for example, replicating an African savanna, a rainy forest, a robots space journey, or an underwater adventure-?while undergoing diagnostic jesting with the companys devices. ; Adjacent services still use the basic product but go beyond it in their value proposition. Rock?s tell-health project in rural Great Britain to support patients with recurring urinary tract infections revolves around the companys Uriss diagnostic device, and Freshness Medical Cares [emailprotected] program in the United States provides comprehensive patient education for Its home dialysis products. All trademarks cited in this paper remain the property of their respective holders and are used only to directly describe the products or services being provided. ; In addition, there are already examples of truly stand-alone, value-based healthcare services, independent of single product use, along the patient pathway. Pfizer online male health clinic provides anonymous, confidential consultation at the users convenience. Wellheads diabetes manager provides a modular service for supporting medication adherence, clinical research trials, and disease management through the Internet and mobile devices. And Philips combines home-based tell-monitoring with an interactive health platform to promote behavioral change for patients with chronic illnesses such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COP). The solutions we examined span all stages of the patient pathway and display different degrees of business model autonomy, yet they all have one feature in common: Patient outcome, not products, is at the heart of the value proposition for customers. The next logical step, for those that heaven done so already, is to split patient-centric service offers from the drug and device business and develop them in a separate business unit. Pfizer Health Solutions is a case in point, as is Johnson Johnson Innovation. The fact that independent value-based healthcare services have started mainly in the area of treatment and monitoring (see figure 1) can be explained by the cost dynamics along the patient pathway: Conventional wisdom says prevention is the best medicine, but commercial reality is that it is the most poorly remunerated, at least in the public sector. At present, even private health insurers are more intent on capturing value at the cost- intensive end of the patient pathway than in prevention, where a business case for a patient-centric solution is much more difficult to make. That may be changing, however. Since the mid-sass, Dutch insurer Achaean has offered n interesting case study proving that integrated healthcare Figure 1 Most independent value-based healthcare services are in treatment and monitor Eng Business model autonomy Distribution and select examples of patient-centric solutions offerings Valuable services 8% Adjacent Proliferated 1% 3% 19% Pfizer care managers to coach patients with long-term conditions Philips interactive platform to monitor and support behavior change among chronically ill patients 12% 23% Roachs home urine tests to detect urinary tract infections 0% Innovators support program for patients being treated for wet age-related muscular generation prevention Diagnosis Treatment Monitoring Patient pathway Notes: The number in each box represents the percentage of offerings identified for each type of service and step of the patient pathway. In each row, a deeper color indicates a greater number of services. Source: A. T. Carney analysis of more than 100 services offered by pharmaceutical and medical technology firms 4 services can be a profitable way to effectively manage diseases-?and we expect the aging of the population, especially in Europe, to drive further adoption of patient-centric solutions. Where Do Patient-Centric Solutions Go From Here? Although the sheer number of services shows a rapidly evolving field, none of the models we analyzed has revolutionized healthcare delivery. A broad deployment of patient-centric solutions is still hampered by powerful barriers, both externally in the health marketplace and internally in the pharmaceutical and medical technology organizations. Among these barriers: misaligned incentives, distrust, and insufficiently developed capabilities (see sidebar: Barriers to Patient-Centric Solutions). Barriers to Patient-Centric Solutions A number of barriers, both external and internal, are standing in the way of widespread adoption of patient-centric healthcare solutions. External barriers Lack of collaboration and alignment. Healthcare is a complex world. Navigating interests from patient to provider to healthcare payer is not easy in the normal conduct of business, let alone when introducing innovative models. Health insurance companies in Germany, for example, tried to introduce disease management programs that largely failed because resident physicians, while essential to the programs implementation, were not involved in their design. 2 No consensus on evidence. In the long run, economic health outcomes of patient-centric arrive models will need to be proved in the same way that drug effectiveness is shown in a Phase Ill randomized clinical trial. But quantifying savings in the real world is more difficult, and studies on health economic outcomes are less amenable to scale than clinical studies: Patients and disease biology across the world are similar, but healthcare systems and their funding rules are not. On high product margins and do not want them to interfere with patient interactions. Misleading incentives for parts of the healthcare system. A shorter focus, combined with tight regulatory control over operations ND balance sheets, severely limits health insurance companies will to innovate. Meanwhile, paternalistic service models are only attractive for new entrants if they yield revenue that reflects the value contributed-?revenue that depends on payers willingness to fund these services. Internal barriers Insufficient patient targeting. Because the value proposition of patient-centric service models relies on a clear health outcome for the patients enrolled, it is crucial to not only target the right patients but also get them actively involved. Distrust resulting in a lack of access to patients. In most countries, pharmaceutical and deiced technology companies are restricted from directly marketing to patients or even pharmacies. Physicians-?and many patients-?still perceive pharmaceutical firms as focused Lack of new capability profiles. Pharmaceutical companies have excellent clinical understanding, but they lack experience in service deployment and design. Managing regular customer communication as part of a distinctive value proposition and not as a duty to drug safety is also new to an organization that is accustomed to molecules as value drivers. For technology companies, deploying local services and managing customer and maintenance immunization is easier, but they lack an understanding of the healthcare systems reimburse resentment schemes. Insufficient understanding of service-based business models in product-based environments. Capability gaps can be overcome with a smart deployment of resources, but the lack of understanding about the features of a service-based versus a product-based business and revenue model is more difficult to overcome. Recent legislation in Germany has abolished incentives for disease management programs, effectively removing them from the agenda. 5 So far, these barriers have prevented greater adoption of patient-centric lotions-?in Europe, less than 0. 5 percent of the more than 70 million chronic patients participate in health service programs (see figure 2)-?and a growing business can only be established once successful innovators clear these barriers. Figure 2 Barriers are preventing the significant adoption of patient-centric services Degree of expectation versus actual population addressed in Europe Today Degree of expectation Over-promise Realistic purport entities Growth Late followers Population at risk (prevention) 70 million addressed Innovators Patients in innovative healthcare niches 0. 5 million Early adopters High-need chronic or ever patients Early majority Chronic patients at risk of developing severe conditions Market development Note: Patient numbers based on chronic diseases in Europe Sources: Gardner; A. T. Carney analysis Technology will speed up the game and force decisions. Data generation, collection, and handling will be faster and more accessible than ever before: ; Healthcare devices will become commoditized. Prices will come down for everything from basic X-ray machines at the point of care in rural emerging markets to home diagnostic equipment in supermarkets. Wireless communication will become standard, including machine-to- aching (MM) communication. The Internet of things will be a reality before the molecules screened in todays pharmaceutical laboratories have been launched. New tools and algorithms will generate insight from data that will direct the health services of the future, as exemplified by SAPs expected applications of its business data analysis tool, HANNA, in healthcare. Collectively, these trends will bring down the technological barriers to entry and create opportunities for new entrants and innovative start-ups to provide new solutions.

Pygmalion Social Class and Higgins Essay

Pygmalion Social Class and Higgins Essay Pygmalion: Social Class and Higgins Essay Pygmalion Professor Henry Higgins :Professor of phonetics, goes into the opposite direction from the rest of the society. The world hasn’t turned against him is because he is a kind man. He can be a bully. Eliza Doolittle -Her character becomes much more instrumental to fundamental after the ambassador’s party. When she decides to make a statement of her own dignity to Higgins, she becomes not a duchess but an independent girl. It makes Higgins sees Eliza differently as a creature worthy of his admiration. Colonial Pickering -A gentleman who is always considerate. He appears most of all to be a civilized foil to Higgins’ barefoot. When Higgins appears to teach Eliza pronunciation, it is Pickering’s thoughtful treatment towards Eliza that teaches her to respect herself. Alfred Doolittle -A dustman who seems free from fear in the society. He is merciless to offer selling Eliza to Higgins and get some money out of the circumstance. Through Higgins’ joking recommendation, he becomes a moral status. Mrs Higgins -the first and only character who qualms about the affair. She knows what will happen to Eliza. The strategies a character devises for getting what he or she wants. Compare the Class Systems and How They Promote Social Equality in the Play â€Å"Pygmalion† Upper class They stereotyped how the lower class lived and called them names such as â€Å"baggage† and â€Å"blackguard†. Shaw is very much a feminist by addressing Higgins and Colonel talking about women in Act 2. He mentions that the upper class are mean and not fair to others. In Shaw’s time of living, there were 3

Discussion 7 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Discussion 7 - Essay Example The first woman wore solid-color blouses, the second woman was middle aged and wore sophisticated shoes and dress whereas the third woman was trying to be attractive and wore jumpers which were provocative in nature and appealing. The author says that she noticed a great stability in the dressing styles of men as there were no volatile standards in dressing and shoe wear. She said that when she thought about the reason for not noticing the men in the conference, she came to know the fact that men are not marked. There do not try to be extra prominent anywhere. She says that she is there is no such thing as biological differences when it comes to the classification of genders rather it the â€Å"marking† factor which makes us man or woman. She gives the reference of the famous author Fasold who said the terms which are used to differentiate between men and women on the biological levels surfaced in the 19th century as the sex-indefinite pronouns. She says that being â€Å"marked† is the necessity for woman as they cannot survive in the cooperate world whereas men can work being

Meaningful use Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Meaningful use - Essay Example Meaningful use refers to the application of certified EHR technology in attaining specific healthcare objectives. Meaningful use is centered along the roles of healthcares professions and hospitals with respect to the adoption and implementation of EHR technology in their respective practice (CDC, 2013). This claim can be justified by the guidelines of the EHR incentive program, which requires medical professionals and hospitals to demonstrate that their chosen certified EHR has met specific health outcomes priorities. The concept of meaningful use is based on a number of vital health outcome priorities which include but not limited to improved population and public health; enhanced privacy and security of patient medical information; superior quality, efficiency, safety and minimized health disparities; enhanced care coordination; and increased engagement of patients and their families in the care (â€Å"Policymaking, Regulation†, 2012). This means that eligible medical profe ssions and hospitals must ensure that their certified EHR meets the above results before they get CMS inventive payment. The healthcare outcomes will be used as the criteria for establishing effective use of the deployed health IT tools by healthcare providers. According to the CMS incentive program eligible medical professionals, hospitals and critical access hospitals (CAHs) will receive up to $44,000 over 5 years and up to $63,750 over 6 years through the Medicare and Medicaid EHR incentive program respectively (CDC, 2013). It is noteworthy that CMS inventive program is voluntary, but negative consequences especially financial ones have been put in place for medical providers who fail to join the program by 2015. The concept of Meaningful Use was first introduced during the Obama administration though enactment and final signing of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 into law (Flanders, 2010). The ARRA through a number of measures particularly the "Health In formation Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act" has witnessed improved national healthcare IT infrastructure. The HITECH proposed the concept of meaningful use of the EHR through the country’s healthcare delivery system as a vital national goals and it remains to be the critical focus for legislative, financial and ethical concern for hospitals and professional in the healthcare sector (â€Å"Policymaking, Regulation†, 2012). The initiative for automating medical records is facilitated by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) in conjunction with Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) after the current administration realized that IT infrastructure is impetus for addressing longstanding healthcare challenges which range from escalating healthcare costs, low quality and safety, as well as high wastage (CDC, 2013). Meaningful Use has been divided into phases in order to encourage gradual widespread EHR adoption and implemen tation universally besides relieving excessive burden on medical care providers. The first phase which covers 2011 involves aspects of data capture and sharing; the second face, which involves advanced clinical processes elements covers up to 2013 while the final phase involves

Impact of Advertising Campaigns on Food Waste

Impact of Advertising Campaigns on Food Waste Alice Boucher   Ã‚   Would successful advertising and advertising campaigns see a decrease in food waste?       Abstract This dissertation proposal plans to investigate and explore the successful-ness of advertising within social and economical issues as well as environmental. Posing the question Would successful advertising see a decrease in food waste? Aims In one year alone, 50% of food thrown away comes from households in the UK, this accumulates to approximately 7 million tonnes whilst half of this is perfectly edible, this is becoming a vast social, cultural and ethical issues worldwide resulting in families wasting money as well as food, people being unable to afford to eat and also food bank crisis, therefore the main focus and aims of this dissertation will be the investigation, exploration and measurement of successful advertising and what impact advertising campaigns have on social, economic and environtmental problems, with food waste as the subject. To measure successful advertising the investigation in this dissertation will be in the form of creating an advertising campaign to raise public awareness and also create change. This will be produced in a form of photography and posters to create reactions and statistics doing so will also practice the fundamentals of successful advertising and if it works, how it does so. The proposed research topic of this dissertation is something considered of vast importance and discussed frequently within governing bodies, the reason for this is because not only is it a problem effecting the UK put the rest of the world to, as mentioned above it creates issues in social practice, economics and the environment, this is only going to get worse therefore this dissertation propose to inform people of how this could be changed. Literature Review For this proposed dissertation there are many different readings to be considered, below these are to split up into three different sections, Each of these concludes different aspects of this proposal outlining topics such as, Advertising Campaign technique and strategies, the dissertation subject, including facts and figures of food waste. Advertising, Marketing and campaign strategy and Techniques The Advertising Concept Book (Barry, 2008) This book includes different advertising techniques and design concepts enabling users to not only understand design concepts behind advertising, but also how to produce designs and advertisements themselves. Written by Pete Barry and Published by Thames Hudson, the key chapters to focus on and read into to move forwards with this dissertation are chapters 02 The Strategy outlining the thinking before the production of a design or advertisement, 04 The Campaign How and Why to produce a campaign and 09 Interactive This Negotiates how to incorporate an audience and response. This book will come in useful when producing a campaign in the final dissertation. The Fundamentals Of Creative Advertising (Burtenshaw, Mahon, Barfoot, 2006) Here Another book to be aware of again focus on practical steps into advertising with considerations of the fundamentals of advertising,   written by a combination of academics, Ken Burtenshaw, Nik Mahon and Caroline Barfoot. Chapters 1: The Media Options pg.12-64, gives an insight into different outlets for advertising and where to publish, this is especially helpful for production purposes on where and how to advertise and run a campaign and Chapter 2: publishes the debate on campaign planning and strategy pg.68-78, this will be useful when considering, clients, agency work and commissions, market research and campaign planning, for example a topic in the campaign cycle is where do we want to be this may be subject to discussion because depending on business, commission and client needs the outcome will differ, in comparison to this The Advertising Concept Book (Barry, 2008) pg.92 states that the two key compartments to understand is the origin of ideas and the function of the tagline with no mention of the target market. Ogilvy on Advertising (Ogilvy, 1995) The final literature recommendation for the advertising section on this dissertation is Ogilvy on advertising, opposed to the other two reading recommendations above, this literature is an introduction into the industry from and already existing advertising practitioner. The many passages in this book debate how modern advertising is generally no different to historic advertising and that the only major change was the invention of the TV One change that can be called major: television has emerged as the most potent medium for selling most products to follow this statement up Ogilvy added Meanwhile, most of the advertising techniques which worked when I wrote confessions of an advertising man still work today, consumers still by products whose advertising promises them value for money, beauty, nutrition, relief from sufferent and social status etc. Again in comparison to the other literature included, Ogilvy Addresses and Boasts how simple advertising still works efficiently and also advertising which Un-Sells products, this is relevant because you gain an insight into the bigger picture of advertising and campaigns rather than just the positives and it also comes from someone who made it in the industry. Reading on the topic of Food Waste The literature below includes reading on the dissertation proposal subject Carbon Footprint of Supermarket Food Waste (Scholz, Eriksson, and Strid, 2015) Written in 2015 by Eriksson Mattias, this article from an existing dissertation discusses alternate topics surrounding food waste, in this instance the subject is carbon footprint of supermarket food waste. The reason that this article is relevant to this dissertation proposal is because it is a very current article so any facts and figures surrounding the subject should be similar and also it gives a great insight into the subject such as defining food waste quoted here Food waste is any food, and inedible parts of food, removed from the food supply chain to be recovered or disposed of (including composted, crops ploughed in/not harvested, anaerobic digestion, bio-energy production, co-generation, incineration, disposal to sewer, landfill or discarded to sea). When producing research for this subject I also came across a significant amount of websites and other content to be used for reading, these all include information on, How social practices cause food waste generation (Leung, 2013) Consumer attitudes to food waste and food packaging (AlexWork, 2013) Identifying the barriers and opportunities for food waste prevention. (Lazell, 2014) Research Methodology When producing the official dissertation, the main research question will be whether an advertising would work successfully and if so, how? Producing this with the objective of a creating an advertising campaign addressing an environmental and economic issue of food waste.

Macbeth-How Was the Witches Ported in Polanskis Movies and Shakespeare’s Book

Choose one principal character in the Shakespeare play you have studied compare the presentation of your chosen character in the play with the presentation of the same character in an adaptation of the play . Use examples from both the play and adaptation in your response. The Character I have chosen are the Witches . The witches have a big effect in the play, not only are they evil, but this is emphasized by the hate against witches and witchcraft in Elizabethan times. In the book the witches are first portrayed as scary and dangerous because of the surroundings thunder and lightning on a moor is an evil image: we associate thunder and lightning with scary and dangerous things, also the moor is a very lonely place. One of the witches asks the other witches â€Å"when shall we three meet again, In thunder, lightnig or in rain† By the witch asking this it makes the reader think why would they want to meet in dangerous weather, maybe they witches like the scary weather. The Witches language is also very evil and powerful. â€Å"Fair is foul, and foul is fair; hover through the fog and filthy air† This quote tells me that the Witches have a hatred for anything good, and their love for things good. Shakespeare could have used internal rhyme to emphasise the evilness. When Macbeth meets the witches at first they greet him as â€Å"Thee thane of Cawdor† and even more as †That shalt be king† This shows that the witches are not normal human creatures because they could be suggesting that they can see into the future. In Polanski’s movie the witches are first seen on the beach burying a hand, a rope and a dagger these items could be representing Macbeth’s future. The hand could represent the witches forcing Macbeths hand. A rope because the Thane of Cawdor was hanged. Finally the dagger because Macbeth stabs Banquo and king Duncan. Macbeth also see’s Banquos ghost carrying a dagger. Also in the movie the witches are portrayed as ugly and are dressed poorly, this could mean that they don’t care about they’re appearance. Overall the witches might not be all evil because they never lied to Macbeth, they just gave half truths.

Malaysia Education Trend

Historical background of higher education Ever since the Federation of Malaya gained independence in 1957, theMalaysian education system has been developing so as to unify the nationstateand to promote economic growth. The Education Act of 1961,which followed educational reform efforts such as the Razak Statementof 1956 and the Rahman Talib Report of 1960, has governed the moderneducation system in Malaysia. These educational reforms correlated withsocioeconomic conditions.In the early 1970s, the New Economic Policy(NEP 1971), or Bumiputera Policy, was implemented. The NEP aimedto bring about a better balance in enrollment among the different ethnicgroups in Malaysia. 1 It resulted in a steady increase in the number ofBumiputera students in Malaysian universities. Furthermore, since theearly 1970s, the Malaysian government has sought to make more effectiveuse of the nation’s Malay human resources in the process of economicdevelopment, and the percentage of Malay students at ev ery educationallevel has increased steadily.Basically, the Malaysian education system follows a 6-3-2 structure,with six years of primary school, three years of lower secondary school,and two years of upper secondary school (see Appendix 1). Eleven yearsof basic education are provided to all citizens. However, the highereducationsystem has been limited to the elite citizens of the country. Performance in the public examination, known as the SPM (SijilPelajaranMalsyaia/Malaysia Certicate of Education), which is taken after theeleventh year of school, determines whether FormIV students can enterpost-secondary education (matriculation, or six Form).Until the mid-1990s,the Malaysian government encouraged students to study overseas in theU. K. , the U. S. , Australia, or Japan. The 1st phase of the establishment of public universities started in1969 under the Universities and University Colleges Act. During this time,UniversitiSains Malaysia (USM 1969), UniversitiKebangsaan Malaysia(UKM 1970), UniversitiPertanian Malaysia (UPM 1971), and UniversitiTeknologi Malaysia (UTM 1975) were established (see Table 1).Moreover,four public universities were established during the second phase (fromThe Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) was created on 27 March 2004 to take charge of higher education in Malaysia which involves more than 900,000 students pursuing higher education in 20 public universities, 33 private universities and university colleges, 4 foreign university branch campuses, 22 polytechnics, 37 community colleges and about 500 private colleges. The MOHE’s mission is to create a higher education environment that will foster the development of academic and institutional excellence.It is in line with the vision of the government to make Malaysia a centre of educational excellence and to internationalise of Malaysian education. Higher educational reform and the roles of private universities in the mid-1990sIn the mid-1990s, four educational acts were implemen ted: the EducationAct of 1995, the 1995 Amendments to the University and UniversityColleges Act of 1971 (1995 Amendments to the UUCA 1971), the PrivateHigher Education Institutions Act of 1996 (PHEIA 1996), and the NationalCouncil on Higher Education Act of 1996 (NCHEA 1996).With theimplementation of the Private Higher Education Institutions Act of 1996,the private sector increased its involvement in providing tertiary education(Malaysia 2001). The Act allowed private institutions of higher educationand foreign universities to establish franchises and degree courses. Inparticular, private-sector universities were encouraged to offer science andtechnology courses in order to increase enrollment at higher-educationalinstitutions and to produce a greater number of highly skilled graduates(Malaysia 1998: 122).Six private universities, Malaysia Multimedia University (MMU), UniversitiTenagaNasional (Uniten), UniversitiTeknologiPertonas (UTP),UniversitiTunAdbul Razak (Unitar), Internationa l Medical University(IMU), and UniversitiIndustri Selangor (Unisel), began offering degreelevelcourses in engineering, business studies, medicine, and multimedia.Since that time, the number of private universities has increased, as seenin Table 2. IT-focused universities from both public and private sectors,such as Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), UniversitiKebangsaan Malaysia(UKM), Multimedia University, and UniversitiTenaga (Uniten), operatein the MSC (see Table 2).Their challenging cases will be examined as follows:the case studies of the Malaysia Multimedia University as the newlyestablished core university of MSC at 1st; second, the Malaysia NationalUniversity as the traditional university which might have some difficultiesin attempting the new challenges; and third, University Malaysia Sarawak(Unimas) which shows a need for distance learning because of its locationon the island of Borneo. Malaysia Multimedia University (MMU) as a pioneerMalaysia Multimedia University (MMU) was established as the core institutionof the MSC in July 996, and was the 1stst private university to begiven accreditation by the government. MMU has two campuses that offerfaculty in several fields: technology, IT, creative multimedia, and administration at the Cyberjaya Campus in the MSC; and technology, informationscience technology, business, and law at the Malacca campus. There are9,000 undergraduate and post-graduate students, including foreign studentsfrom 31 countries (e. g. , Brunei, Sudan, Bosnia, Malawi, Tanzania, India,Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Turkey, China, Thailand, and Guinea 4)enrolled in MMU. MMU uses English as the language of instruction.Knowledge-Campus (K-Campus) projects of UniversitiKebangsaan MalaysiaNot only newly established universities, but also the nine historical universities(public universities established before 1994) conduct IT-relatedprojects. All nine public universities have embarked on open- or distancelearningprograms (Siowek-Lee and Rin alia 1998). UniversitiKebangsaanMalaysia (UKM, Malaysia National University), one of the most prestigiousuniversities in Malaysia, formed a special ICT committee to implementthe blueprint of ICT projects and established the Faculty of Information.Distance learning: the case of Unimas, Sarawak University Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas), which is not located on the MalayPeninsula but on the island of Borneo, established its Faculty of InformationTechnology in 1993. By July 1994, the faculty offered undergraduateprograms in software engineering, information systems, internetworkingtechnologies, computational science, and interactive multimedia. Therewere 34 students at the undergraduate level and a few at the post-graduatelevel in 1994; by July 1995, the 1st Master’s students in IT graduatedfrom Unimas.The computational science program was introduced duringthe 1995-96 academic year; the joint program in cognitive science, offeredby the Faculty of Cognitive Science and Human Developmen t and theFaculty of Information Technology, began in 1996. Unimas, in collaboration with KolejLatihan Telekom (Telekom TrainingCollege), has begun offering diploma programs in multimedia (businessand computing) and in multimedia technology, which have been accreditedby the LembagaAkreditasi Negara (National Accreditation Board) (1 March2000).Moreover, the Network Multimedia Education System (NMES) waslaunched in October 2002. In the process of achieving a developed nation status by the year 2020, one of the challenges facing thegovernment is how to provide higher education for all levels of society. One solution is to use technology as anenabler to make available education to the masses. Universities are taking up the challenge by updating thecontent of their programmes but more importantly,utilising the latest technologies to improve the deliverysystems.One of the most talked about emerging delivery systems is Open and Distance Learning that isfast becoming a viable alternative in providing education to the masses. Open University Malaysia wasestablished on 10 August 2000 in response to the government’s call for the democratisation ofeducation. Although it has the status of a private university, OUM is owned by 11 public universities inthe country.As an open learning institution, OUM subscribes to the following principles:Flexible entry requirements to provide moreopportunities for all members of the society to pursue tertiary education; A learner-friendly flexible academic system wherethe constraints and needs of working adults are well understood; and Adoption of the blended pedagogy mode toenrich learning experiences. Malaysian higher education reform is progressing rapidly because thegovernment needs to develop highly skilled human resources locally toenable the nation to move toward a knowledge society, in the era ofICT.Malaysian public universities had been traditionally restricted to theelite; however, they began to be corporatized in the mid-19 90s. Privateuniversities have taken on more important roles in expanding enrollmentand maintaining the quality of higher education in science and technologyrelated to ICT. First, higher education reforms toward a knowledge society are affectingaccess and social selection with respect to ethnic and gender equality. Educational policy implemented since 1969 has provided educationalopportunities to a less privileged population, the Bumiputera.Governmentpolicy can have an effect on aspirations and, thus, the demand forhigher education. This has clearly been the case in Malaysia, which isboth an Islamic and a multicultural country made up of the Malays,Chinese, Indians, and indigenous peoples. The implementation of the NewEconomic Policy (NEP) in 1971, or Bumiputera Policy, attempts to bringabout a better balance in enrolment among the various ethnic groupsand has led to a steady increase in Bumiputera students in Malaysianuniversities.The government of Malaysia has encouraged Bumiputera studentsto pursue science courses in particular. According to the National EconomicRecovery Plan, in addition to maintaining the Bumiputera/non-Bumiputera ratio of 55:45, the Ministry of Education (MOE) is to ensurethat at least 55 percent of Bumiputera students are enrolled in scienceand technology ? elds of study at institutions of higher learning (Malaysia1998:123). This mandate is in response to the growing need for highlyskilled human resources, both to encourage economic growth and to unifythe nation, following its independence in 1957.Female Malaysian students earn better grades, in general, than do maleMalaysian students. Yet, female Malaysian students have experienced difficulties in obtaining higher education in the past. Structural and attitudinalbarriers to the equitable participation of women at the highest educationallevels have existed during the last few decades (Aminah 1998:25). Hence,their past underrepresentation was not a result of their inability but ratherthei r cultural backgrounds.As some scholars (Jamilah 1992; Aminah 1994;Fatimah and Aminah 1994; Jamilah 1994; Kamogawa 2003b) have noted,the stereotypical Malaysian way of thinking is that arts and teaching fieldsare suitable for women and that science and technology fields are suitablefor men. Consequently, Malaysian female students have had a tendency tochoose art and educational courses. Higher Education has generated RM 2. 1 billion through 70,259 international students for the year 2008. Ministry of Higher Education came out with the target: 80,000 foreign students by 2010.As at 15 January 2009, 210 out of 434 private higher educational institutions (PHEIs) and all 20 public universities have been licensed to recruit international students. Most of the international students in public universities pursue post graduate degree courses while those in PHEIs pursue both graduate and post graduate degree courses. In 2005, there were 41,559 international students, of which 7,656 were in p ublic universities and 33,903 in PHEIs. The population of international students made up 6. 4% of the total number of students in institutions of higher education.The different divisions under the Department of Higher Education will concentrate on their respective areas in improving the quality of education services and ensuring that programmes offered by the public and private higher educational institutions in Malaysia are of high quality and international standards. In their endeavour to achieve these goals, they have established promotional offices in Dubai, Jakarta, Ho-Chi Minh City and Beijing. A Technical Committee has also been formed to make Malaysia a Centre of Excellence. This committee is chaired by the Minister of Higher Education.A Technical Committee on ‘Edu-Tourism’ was also formed. Other marketing strategies include incentives offered to institutions promoting education overseas; recognition of Malaysian degrees by foreign countries and the establishmen t of the new national quality agency for both private and public higher educational institutions, i. e. Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA). The ultimate aim of all these strategies is to make Malaysia a ‘favoured’ destination for international and local students to pursue their tertiary education besides making education an important export commodity that will generate foreign exchange for the country.