MOH Mobile App

Kudos to the MOH for coming up with it’s official Android App – if you use Android v 2.3.3 and up (that’s most modern Android devices for you) you can download it for free from the Google Playstore

I downloaded the app and gave it a test on my Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 which runs on Android 3.2. The app scales nicely on the device so that is nice. The main interface is in Bahasa Malaysia and there is no option to choose English except the Health Risk calculator which is pretty basic (Obesity, Physical activity, Mental health, Smoking, Diabetes and Heart disease). As such, this app is only for Malaysians and would not be relevant to an International audience unless the user understands Bahasa Malaysia.
I would say this is a blessing as the app is pretty much in Alpha build given that many sections do not work. I was interested in the Doctor search section and while the name search works, if one clicks on a selected name, I get a yellow colored “Error loading page” pop-up and nothing else works. Same goes if one tries an APC number search. The same error happens if I try a Dentist search, Product search or any other search in the app. I don’t know if this bug is related to my specific Android version or applies to all devices but this is a major failure of the app.
To me the killer function would be practitioner search so I was pretty much disappointed that it did not work. Malaysians would be better off going to the MMC website rather than using the MOH app for this purpose.
Heck, even the Hospital search does not work. If the developers want to make full use of a mobile device, they should incorporate a “MOH hospital near me” option, utilising the GPS capabilities of smartphones and tablets. You are better off using Google maps if you are looking for a nearby hospital.
There is a “bonus” module on Dengue but it’s really half-baked and even the Signs and Symptoms section has missing images.

I rate this app 1/5 stars in view of the pretty much sloppy work in this first build. It has potential though, so if the developers could continue work on it, then I see it could be truly useful.