How we rank healthcare providers
We rank hospitals, clinics and care providers on five weighted criteria: patient review volume and rating (30%), experience (20%), licences and accreditation (20%), published services and capacity (15%) and responsiveness (15%). A criterion we have not measured yet for a provider is left out rather than counted against it. We publish the ranking order and, on every profile, which criteria we could check; we do not publish individual numeric scores. We re-rank every quarter. No provider can pay to change its rank, and medical facilities cannot buy any placement at all.
| Weight | Signal | How we measure it |
|---|---|---|
| 30% | Patient reviews | Google rating × log(review count), scaled so that 500 or more reviews earn full weight for volume. Until we have a provider's Google rating on record, this signal is left out. We never publish review text for medical facilities. |
| 20% | Experience | Years operating (full marks at 20 years) and size (staff headcount band, or beds for hospitals), averaged. Left out if neither is on record. |
| 20% | Licences & accreditation | A licence or registration we can see on a register or the provider's own site: MOH licence under the Private Healthcare Facilities and Services Act 1998, T&CM Council, Malaysian Allied Health Professions Council (MAHPC), Malaysian Dental Council (MDC), Lembaga Kaunselor, JKM or JTKSM (10 points with a number and register link, 7 with either, 4 for a published statement; up to 12). Then accreditation: JCI (5), MSQH (4), ACHS (3), Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (2), MHTC membership (1), ISO (1), up to 8, and awards (up to 2). |
| 15% | Services & capacity | Published services (0.75 each, up to 6), independent evidence links (1.5 each, up to 6), number of specialists (up to 2) and published bed count (1). |
| 15% | Responsiveness | A mystery-shopper enquiry, scored on time to first reply and on how clear the answer is. Until a provider has been mystery-shopped, this signal is left out and the score is calculated from the other four. |
What the ranking is not
The ranking reflects what we can check from the outside: credentials, transparency, scale and what patients say publicly. It is not a measure of clinical outcomes or of any doctor's skill, and it is not medical advice. Always consult a registered medical practitioner about your own care.
Rules
- Medical facilities cannot pay for placement. Hospitals, clinics, dental, therapy, TCM and nursing providers never appear in sponsored boxes. Non-medical services (confinement centres, nanny agencies) may have clearly labelled sponsored boxes, shown separately from the ranking; payment never changes the score or rank.
- Facilities, not doctors. We list hospitals, clinics and centres. We do not rank individual doctors.
- No outcome claims. We publish no success rates, before/after images, testimonials or prices for medical treatments, in line with the Medicine (Advertisement and Sale) Act 1956 and the Private Healthcare Facilities and Services Act 1998. Our buyer guides give typical market price ranges only.
- Every claim needs an evidence URL. Entries we could not fully verify are flagged “⚠️ details not yet verified” and lose 5 points until verified.
- No thin pages. We only publish a state or city ranking when it has at least 3 real providers.
- Corrections: anyone can report an error. We re-check corrected entries before the next edition.
Registers we check
- Private hospitals, clinics, dialysis, nursing homes: MOH licence or registration (PHFSA 1998); accreditation on the MSQH and JCI lists.
- Aesthetic clinics: MOH registration and the doctor's Letter of Credentialing and Privileging (LCP) for aesthetic medicine.
- Dentists and orthodontists: Malaysian Dental Council, including the National Specialist Register for orthodontics.
- Physiotherapists, speech and occupational therapists, clinical psychologists: Malaysian Allied Health Professions Council.
- TCM and chiropractic: Traditional and Complementary Medicine Council (T&CM Act 2016).
- Counsellors: Lembaga Kaunselor (Counsellors Act 1998). Elderly care centres: JKM (Care Centres Act 1993).
See our guide: how to check a clinic or doctor is registered in Malaysia.
Update cycle
Quarterly re-rank (1 January, April, July and October), a monthly newly verified edition, and weekly refreshes of dated guides such as the cost of giving birth.
Recent changes
- 2026-10-31 — 169 providers added, 17 merged from 9 research batch(es)