Today, the Dubai Health Authority organized a workshop at the Emirates Towers in Dubai. The workshop brought together over 100 key healthcare stakeholders, including health providers and technology partners. The purpose of the workshop was to discuss the Dubai Digital Health Strategy.
The Dubai Digital Health Strategy is currently in its finalization stages. The strategy aims to achieve several key objectives. These objectives include delivering patient-centric and data-driven healthcare services, implementing effective regulation, and promoting integration through digital innovation.
The workshop served as an opportunity to present a detailed overview of the strategy for the health sector of Dubai. It also provided stakeholders with a chance to provide their feedback before the strategy’s finalization.
Ahmed Al Nuaimi, CEO of Corporate Shared Support Services Sector at the DHA expressed his thanks and appreciation to the health sector for their support and contribution towards finalizing this key strategy.
Al Nuaimi highlighted an essential element for the success of this strategy, which is collaboration. He emphasized that building a digital ecosystem for the health sector aligns with the Emirate’s digitization strategy. The overall objective of this strategy is to provide the highest quality of services to community members.
Al Nuaimi said: “In Dubai, we are implementing digital transformation across the full spectrum of healthcare, from telemedicine, to e-claims, disease surveillance and management as well as electronic health records and health information exchange. We aim to harness the power of technology to transform the way healthcare services are delivered in Dubai and to provide patients with the highest quality of patient-centered and personalized care.”
Dr. Nahed Monsef, Director of Strategy & Governance Department DHA said: “A digital strategy provides a detailed framework to help us achieve digital transformation across all areas of the health sector from healthcare management and processes to patient services so that we can best utilize technology to further bolster the health system and provide the highest quality of care to our patients. The Dubai Digital Health Strategy will enable and empower the population of Dubai to better manage their health and well-being by establishing connectivity between digital technologies and health-related sciences.”
Objectives of the strategy include:
- Digitizing the patient journey across the continuum of care.
- Defining governance framework, legislations, and policies for digital health.
- Maximizing interoperability of health care systems
- Utilizing robust up-to-date infrastructure
- Utilizing advanced information management, data analytics, and AI.
- Leading the field of Digital Health Research and Development
- Establishing a Digital Health ecosystem by empowering a digital community and creating platforms for human capital training and planning
Dr Mohammad Al Redha, Director of DHA’s Health Informatics and Smart Health Department said: “A digital strategy in healthcare will benefit the health sector, enhance patient delivery and provide data to plan effective evidence-based population health and disease prevention strategies. At the same time, it will empower patients with digital tools to track their health and wellbeing.”
The NABIDH initiative, currently in progress, focuses on implementing an electronic medical record system for the Emirate of Dubai. The primary objective of this initiative is to provide patients with access to a comprehensive electronic medical record. Additionally, healthcare professionals will also have access to this record. This record will include allergy alerts and a complete overview of the patient’s medical history. The initiative closely links to the UAE’s Riyati initiative, which aims to ensure that every individual in the UAE possesses a single electronic medical file in the future.
During the event, 52 hospitals in the Emirate were recognized for adopting the NABIDH initiative. Currently, all hospitals in Dubai have successfully integrated with the NABIDH system, resulting in 100 percent connectivity. Additionally, by the end of this year, all clinics within the Emirate are expected to join this integrated system.
Al Redha said: “ “NABIDH is a key initiative in our healthcare digitization journey. We are proud of the collaboration with health facilities across the public and the private health sector to help us achieve this vision and further enhance the health sector in Dubai.”
Al Redha added that NABIDH enables central storage and secure exchange of patient health information between healthcare professionals.
For patients, this development brings significant benefits. It means that their healthcare provider will have a single electronic medical file containing all their medical reports. The system will securely store these files. Additionally, when a patient transitions from one healthcare facility to another, their medical file will seamlessly accompany them.
Al Redha said that all these pioneering initiatives will be part of the larger framework of the Dubai Digital Health Framework. “At the end of the day, our priority is patient care and wellbeing. Digitization of health services not only benefits the health sector by reducing costs and improving efficiencies but also ensures patients are empowered, helps in the delivery of patient-centered care and an end-to-end seamless patient experience across the complete continuum of care.”
