United Arab Emirates, Dubai, 26 October, 2010: The Dubai Health Authority (DHA) and HIMSS (Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) announced today the launch of the first major Health Information Technology conference to be held in the UAE.
The conference, known as the HIMSS Middle East 2010 Conference is being held for the first time in the UAE and the second time in the Gulf region. The conference will take place from November 8-10, 2010 at the InterContinental Hotel, Dubai Festival City.
More than 300 senior government and hospital decision makers from 20 countries in the region will attend the conference.
His Excellency Qadhi Saeed Al Murooshid, Director General of the DHA said, “This conference holds great significance because several important healthcare initiatives that aim to promote a paperless environment across hospitals in the Middle East will be launched at the conference. At the DHA, we are keen to further improve patient safety and aid timeless information transfer by developing healthcare IT systems across both private and government hospitals in the Emirate of Dubai.
“We would like to adopt these systems keeping in mind the healthcare needs of this region and therefore we look forward to liaising with key delegates from leading healthcare organisations in the Middle East region and with HIMSS to finalise and adopt these systems.”
HIMSS President and CEO Stephen H Lieber noted that, “Growing demands for healthcare in the region and demands for cost effective treatment position the region to benefit greatly from health information technology. Our interest is in providing governments and hospitals the tools to use technology appropriately and to achieve maximum benefit.”
Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model (EMRAM) for the Middle East:
One such initiative is the adoption of the Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model (EMRAM) for the Middle East.
HIMSS will engage will delegates from DHA and other leading healthcare organisations to develop an Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model (EMRAM) for the Middle East. The EMRAM model uses a 0-7 stage scale to rate hospitals based on the extent to which they have adopted a paperless, digital system.
The EMRAM adoption ratings are currently conducted amongst nearly 6,000 healthcare organisations in North America and Europe. The EMRAM uses a 0-7 Stage Scale, with Stage 7 being a paperless and digital hospital.
Al Murooshid said that while the North American and European models have been developed keeping the healthcare requirements of those countries, the EMRAM model for middle east will be based keeping in mind the healthcare needs and peculiarities of the Middle Eastern region and therefore the grading system will be more compatible for hospitals to be able to comply with.
“Grading hospitals based on how digital or paperless they are is very important because it ensures that hospitals adhere to latest healthcare IT requirements which is crucial to achieve increased efficiency, cost-savings and most importantly patient safety. Moreover grading hospitals on this basis will encourage them adopt a paperless model, which ensures that patient files are saved electronically and thus eliminates the risk of misplacement of files and other such issues.”
He added that patiepatient safety significantly increases. For example, a patient can conduct a CT scan in one hospital and if he needs a second option, the scan and his file can be transferred to another hospital, all in a matter of minutes. With advanced technology that is available today, patients can be rest assured about confidentiality issues and healthcare institutions can achieve higher patient safety and efficiency levels.
Integrating the Hospital Enterprise’ (IHE), system:
Another initiative that will be discussed and implemented in this region, is Integrating the Hospital Enterprise’ (IHE). IHE, developed by Hospital CIOs in the 1990’s uses standard interoperability profiles to facilitate the exchange of Health Information in healthcare settings. IHE can assist healthcare organisations in achieving return on their technology investments
Three parallel conferences:
These two systems will be discussed as part of the Health IT Management conference. However, there are three conferences within HIMSS Middle East that are running in parallel. The first track is the HIMSS Leadership Summit which will address the needs of Senior Health IT Leaders such as Hospital and Government leadership. The second track is Health IT Management which will address the practical nature of Health IT implementations. The third component is an Insurance Conference organized in association with MedicaIQ which focuses on the insurance needs in the region.nt safety and prioritising the needs of the patient is crucial for the success of any health system. With the use of these applications, patient safety significantly increases. For example, a patient can conduct a CT scan in one hospital and if he needs a second option, the scan and his file can be transferred to another hospital, all in a matter of minutes. With advanced technology that is available today, patients can be rest assured about confidentiality issues and healthcare institutions can achieve higher patient safety and efficiency levels.
Integrating the Hospital Enterprise’ (IHE), system:
Another initiative that will be discussed and implemented in this region, is Integrating the Hospital Enterprise’ (IHE). IHE, developed by Hospital CIOs in the 1990’s uses standard interoperability profiles to facilitate the exchange of Health Information in healthcare settings. IHE can assist healthcare organisations in achieving return on their technology investments
Three parallel conferences:
These two systems will be discussed as part of the Health IT Management conference. However, there are three conferences within HIMSS Middle East that are running in parallel. The first track is the HIMSS Leadership Summit which will address the needs of Senior Health IT Leaders such as Hospital and Government leadership. The second track is Health IT Management which will address the practical nature of Health IT implementations. The third component is an Insurance Conference organized in association with MedicaIQ which focuses on the insurance needs in the region.