UAE eHealth Week 2016 showcased best practice, award-winning hospitals and best innovation for UAE vision 2021

Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Tuesday 8 November 2016:   The best in healthcare information technology in the UAE and on an international level was discussed extensively at the HIMSS Middle East UAE eHealth Week 2016 conferences.

The Week hosted five conferences and two AHIMA workshops. The conferences were namely: HIMSS Conference, WATCH Society Conference, Pathology Informatics Conference, GenoME Conference and the Healthcare Payment Reform Summit. 

Aligned with the region’s Vision 2030 and its pursuit of healthcare excellence through technology and national eHealth projects, the event was attended by over 400 local and regional delegates. It was supported by various government organizations and hospitals: UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention, Health Authority Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi Health Services Company (SEHA), Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences, and Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi.  

His Excellency Humaid Mohammed Obaid Al Qatami, Chairman of the Board and Director-General, Dubai Health Authority, opened the conference and presented the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) Awards. 

Dr. Osama El-Hassan, Head of eHealth, Dubai Health Authority and Project Lead on the NABIDH project also commented: “Dubai Health Authority is delighted to partner HIMSS Middle East again in this landmark year. As part of the Dubai Smarter, Dubai Healthier transformation strategy for 2021, DHA will launch the rollout of Salama system (EMR) in 2017 to integrated DHA hospitals and primary care centers. In turn, the National Analysis and Backbone Integration for Dubai Health (NABIDH) system will realize a unified medical record for all patients across all public and private hospitals in Dubai. I am confident that our learnings from the UAE eHealth Week will help us refine the path towards this vision of integrated and seamless care.”
 
Ali Juma AlAjme, Information Technology Department Director, Ministry of Health & Prevention, UAE shared about the National Unified Medical Record (NUMR) project that has kicked started this month. “The aim of the NUMR is to create a single longitudinal patient record, centralized data and analytics, population engagement, drive standard clinical programs and outcomes and facilitate research and performance improvement programs. This project aims to fully realise the vision of patient-centric prevention and disease management. The UAE government is currently working on a business module that will enable the healthcare facilities to reach World-class healthcare service and the one who will drive this will be all partners from public and private sector," he said.

The HIMSS-Elsevier Digital Healthcare Award Celebration, also held on October 31, saw more than double the number of submissions from regional hospitals this year. Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi and SAAD Specialist Hospital emerged winners for the Outstanding ICT Innovation and Outstanding ICT Achievement categories respectively. Nawwaf Awwad, IT Director at Saad Specialist Hospital said: "We are delighted to win for the second year in a row. This Award validates our organization's efforts in consistently pushing the envelope in innovative and transformative healthcare."

On the second day of the eHealth Week HIMSS and the Mohammad Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Sciences (MBRU) signed a Memorandum of Understanding which testifies to the collaboration between the two parties and their commitment towards providing higher learning in healthcare information technology. This MoU will signal the start of a year-long partnership comprising of co-hosted events and various other activities.  HIMSS hopes that this MoU will enable greater digital workforce development. Jeremy Bonfini, Executive Vice President, HIMSS International said: “This partnership consists of a continuous knowledge transfer between HIMSS and MBRU; we are delighted to be joining forces with an esteemed academic institution with the common aim to develop educational programs in the UAE that reinforce the leadership’s commitment to achieving the goals set in Vision 2030.” Commenting on the partnership, Dr Amer Ahmad Sharif, Vice-Chancellor of MBRU and CEO Education Sector, Dubai Healthcare City Authority, said: “This is a great opportunity for us to leverage on the best practices and expertise of HIMSS as a global thought leader in healthcare IT to advance knowledge gathering and sharing for our healthcare professionals.”

The conference moved to Abu Dhabi on 2 November where it was held in Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi. Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi was awarded the first HIMSS Analytics EMRAM Stage 7 hospital in the UAE. Ain Al Khaleej Hospital was awarded for achieving Stage 6. 

The conference was credited by the UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention for CPD points. 

More than 15 sponsors and exhibitors showcased their solutions. This included Pearl Sponsors Cerner, EPIC, Etisalat and Vocera.

HIMSS has announced that the next Middle East conference would be held from 10 – 11 April 2017, Riyadh. The next UAE eHealth Week will take place from 13 – 15 November 2017.