UAE: Soon, walk into a digital clinic and get checked in a capsule; here's how it works

An Xpress check-in clinic by the Emirates Health Services (EHS) drew a lot of attention from the attendees of Arab Health 2023 on Monday.

The UAE health authorities have launched several innovative health projects at this year’s edition of the health conference, which began on Monday at the Dubai World Trade Centre.

Explaining the smart way to check in patients at the Xpress check-in clinic, Fatma Al Ahmed, IT specialist digital health department, EHS, said: “So, this is the digital clinic capsule for the check-in facilities. It is a smart way to get patients in the hospital. In the first phase, it is done for general physicians and family doctors. To start, one has to insert the Emirates ID card in the machine (like an ATM). The machine will accept the ID and immediately assign the patient with a doctor by way of appointment. It will tell you if your visit is covered by insurance or not, failing which the patient will have to pay. After you finish up this, then you insert the ID again, this time to enter the digital clinic.”

Supporting the UAE National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence 2031, the smart clinics that look like a capsule are fitted with easy-to-use medical devices.

These clinics will be available at government hospitals in Sharjah in its first phase, following which it will witness a national roll out, even in private hospitals later.

“Then the patients see the doctor on the other side of the screen, like video consultation… depending on the availability of the doctor. The walls of the room will be blurred for privacy purposes. Then the doctor guides the patients to use the various equipment attached to the chair on which the patient is seated. The patient can assess himself/herself using those devices like a BP monitor, thermometer and other basic tools that can be used easily. After this self-assessment, the statics are automatically uploaded to a screen in front. After this, the doctors give the prescription and the patient can then head to the pharmacy,” Ahmed added.

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Similarly, recording the mental health statistics and the stroke rate in the country are two new dashboards that were showcased by the Emirates Health Services.

This is part of their unique national initiative to provide curative and digital health services aligned with the country's strategy to establish a sustainable, flexible preventive health system.

Explaining its usage, Mariam Al Ali, who is with the hospitals department of EHS, said: “It is our programme called Pace which measures clinical outcome. We have a lot of dashboards. But the two new dashboards are mental health outcome and stroke outcome measures, this year. It aligns with the country’s strategies. This provides the government with a yardstick to measure mental health and stroke rate, by having a calibrated data and what outcomes it will have on the society in future.”

The dashboard projects statistics like timelines, complications, mortality and safety of communities.

She added: “These outcomes help in prevention rather than focusing on cure strategies. It also assists in mitigating any kind of complications. This data gives us a hint and an understanding as to which areas one needs to focus on, in order to prevent them from happening. This data is private and is meant only for the government.”

• UAE
• Dubai