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To innovate is to introduce something new and on Tuesday, the Dubai Healthcare City (DHCC) did just that, by introducing the option of Home Healthcare Services to its patients.
To tie in with UAE Innovation Week, DHCC opened the home service application to all its 132 healthcare facilities on Tuesday.
"We are trying to innovate something new for the patient. If the applying facility follows the correct criteria, we can give the go ahead for service in as little as a week," Managing Director for DHCC Authority - Regulatory, Dr Ramadan Al Blooshi told Khaleej Times.
The home healthcare service will be available to patients as an adjunct to their care and not as an independent service. Though home healthcare already exists across several Dubai Health Authority (DHA) facilities, the DHCC policy differs slightly.
Before accepting a patient for home healthcare, a comprehensive multidisciplinary patient assessment will be conducted.
"The patient should have an existing file with the particular facility they are requesting a home service from. The healthcare professional has to be licensed by DHCC, and the patient's medical report should be provided and reviewed by the physician or nurse ahead of time," Al Blooshi said.
By only offering the service to existing patients, each facility will be well versed in the patient's medical history, making for a better patient outcome, he added.
"The doctor or nurse will be familiar with the patient, the relationship will already be established. Our aim is to provide the best care for patients."
The new policy has been laid down in a bid to optimise utilisation of hospital beds within DHCC.
"In DHCC and other Dubai medical facilities, ICC and CCU beds are nearly always at capacity. What we want to do is free up some of these beds by offering a service to viable patients, such as chronic illness patients or the elderly, at home."
There will be no age limit on patients who can avail of the service but the policy framework does exclude pregnant patients and patients with a history of drug or alcohol abuse.
"We simply feel the risk with these patients is too high so it is bet-ter they seek medical advice at the hospital or clinic," Al Blooshi said.
At present, there is no universal home healthcare-specific insurance in the UAE. Given that the policy is new, Dr Al Blooshi told Khaleej Times the service will be priced according to the specifications of the patient's existing medical insurance, and additional costs will be at the levy of the healthcare facility.
"All facilities in DHCC will follow the Medical Liability Law, ensuring a patient's safety and rights are maintained, however, the facility itself will be liable for everything from A to Z when it comes to the Home Healthcare Service."
In line with the new policy, general practitioners, specialist physicians, nurses, physiotherapists, nutritionist/dieticians, psychologists, speech therapists and occupational therapists can all provide a home service to a patient.
The DHCC regulator will review the new service on a monthly basis in order to effectively monitor its strengths and weaknesses.
kelly@khaleejtimes.com
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