Shaikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum flanked by Humaid Al Qatami and Lt. General Dhahi Khalfan Tamim, the Head of General Security of Dubai, at the launch of Dubai Smarter Dubai Healthier initiative on Sunday. - Photo by Neeraj Murali
Dubai - DHA announces one window facility to keep track of patient record.
Published: Sun 21 Feb 2016, 11:00 PM
Last updated: Tue 23 Feb 2016, 7:22 AM
Each patient will have an electronic medical record file that can be accessed by doctors and healthcare points of their choice across Dubai by 2018 in the biggest project of its kind in the region.
The Dubai Smarter, Dubai Healthier project was launched by Shaikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Dubai Executive Council, on Sunday and is projected to make the emirate the most developed healthcare model in the world.
Two electronic projects - Salama and Nabidh (pulse) - are part of the big project that hopes to turn Dubai into the city of the future, said officials from the Dubai Health Authority (DHA).
"These projects will change the face of DHA and add value to healthcare," said Humaid Al Qatami, Chairman of the Board and Director-General of the authority.
"These two projects are the largest in terms of the volume of health data that they will generate and help us device evidence based public health policies," he said.
The projects will later be integrated with the National Unified Medical Record under the Ministry of Health and Protection of Society so that health information can be shared at the UAE level.
The project:
Patient information sharing will remain within the five DHA hospitals under the Salama project, while Nabidh will include health experts from 34 hospitals and 2,270 health centres in the private sector.
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While patient information sharing will remain within the five DHA hospitals under the Salama project, Nabidh will include health experts from 34 hospitals and 2,270 health centres in the private sector.
"Data will follow patients in these projects," said Dr Mohammad Al Redha, Director of Health Data and Information Analysis Department. "Instead of a patient opening a new file in any hospital with any new doctor, his/her electronic medical record (EMR) will be available under a single system," he said. The project will also help generate Dubai-wide vital health data and also keep a check on misuse of insurance claims.
"Alerts and notification system can send reminders to doctors' such as requesting an eye-test for their diabetic patient once every six-month," said Dr Redha.
The system will also be effective in outbreak management.
"During an epidemic the system provides live records of visits and diagnosis, which will allow easy understanding of the spread or the trend pattern of any disease."
The Salama project, meanwhile, will facilitate cross-referencing of medication and allergy interactions while maintaining patient records within DHA hospitals.
"The system will provide real-time alerts, warnings and flags to draw attention to changes in the patient medication or patient condition. Moreover, allergy warnings will always be displayed on the screen, which directly results in minimising any medication errors," said Amani Al Jassmi, Director of Information Technology.
Patients will also be able to access to their medical record through a patient portal. In future, health information on medical tourists will reach doctors in Dubai before the arrival of the patient.
24 hour center for medical emergencies:
A central command centre to be manned by health professionals will also be set up to attend to medical emergencies through a 24-hour connectivity.The centre will be connected to all hospitals, Dubai Police, Dubai Ambulance as well as the Dubai Civil Defence among others."This is coordinated care," said Dr Redha."Imagine a scenario where a patient is in dire need of blood, which is not available in the health centre where he is hospitalised. A doctor will get in touch with the command centre, which will then swing into action and contact all hospitals across the emirate to source the blood," he added."In case of a mass emergency, the platform can help emergency experts decide which hospitals the ambulances should go to based on the number of available ICU beds across Dubai."
asmaalizain@khaleejtimes.com
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