DHA begins move towards smart hospitals

Engineer Essa Al Maidoor, director-general of the DHA said: “In line with the Smart Government initiative launched by His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, the DHA has chalked out a roadmap towards total IT solutions that will significantly enhance not only customer experience but also the manner in which healthcare is delivered and managed. The deployment of android tablets across DHA healthcare entities is the first step in our plan to build ‘smart hospitals’ that will be integrated with the latest IT technology to enhance customer experience. Customer care is at the heart of the Dubai Health Strategy 2013-2025 and these initiatives are aimed to improve the user experience of patients.”

Al Maidoor said that the DHA IT roadmap includes the Electronic Medical Records system, the Health Information System and Smart Hospitals. “We are looking at a time-frame of 2 to 3 years to implement total IT solutions, but once implemented, these three initiatives that will help the Authority manage not only the present but also the future needs of the health sector.”

He said the Authority will use these tablets to generate customer feedback with an aim to further improve the health services it provides.

Al Maidoor said that the initiative is in cooperation with Fam Holdings. The company will sponsor android tablets across DHA healthcare entities.

Three thousand Android tablets will be provided for waiting areas of all 14 DHA primary healthcare centres, its specialty centres and its hospitals. This includes, 784 beds in Rashid Hospital, 712 beds in Dubai Hospital, 448 beds in Latifa Hospital and 119 beds in Hatta Hospital that will be equipped with android tablets.

The Authority plans to add more tablets throughout its network of healthcare services in the later stages of this project.

Dr Faisal Ali Mousa, Chairman of FAM Holding in Dubai said: “Patients will be able to browse information that is useful for them. This includes all DHA services, pharmacy services and other health services such as physiotherapy and rehabilitation services. They will also be able to browse the internet which will be provided through the wi-fi network. The project will take a month to complete and will significantly enhance patient experience.”

In the last quarter of 2011, DHA introduced several smartphone applications that were developed internally.

The apps, inspired by Windows 8, is compatible with all platforms Apple iOS, Google Android, Blackberry and Windows Mobile, among others.

The apps have a plethora of features that allow users to view appointment details, check medical tests results and health card details. Moreover, users can search a facility, check their BMI( Body Mass Index) and view all the DHA news and events.

One of the most prominent features of the app is that parents can view their children’s vaccination details. They can synchronize these details with their calendar to receive alerts every time their child’s vaccination is due.

Some of the other highlights are the ability to view lab results and appointments, register as a blood donor and access information about active blood donation drives.

This year, at GITEX, the DHA plans to introduce several more features in its existing Smartphone apps, this includes the ability to view prescriptions, get prescription alerts etc. The new features also include details about healthcare packages available for the public including women’s health, smoking packages and diabetes packages- all of which can be requested for through the smartphones.