Dubai Health Authority’s electronic medical records system, Salama, will be updated by the first quarter of 2020, says a top health official.
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“Salama is not just an electronic patient record portal,” says Dr Younis Kazim, CEO of Dubai Healthcare Corporation (DHC) at DHA. “It is the foundation for several upcoming initiatives such as telemedicine and artificial intelligence, which are in line with the goals of article five of the 50-Year Charter issued by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.
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“Additionally, the information received through Salama will help in disease prevention, lifestyle modification and developing world-class evidence-based health practices and policies.”
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The updates will ensure that patients visiting DHA health facilities will also have access to enhanced features on the MyChart mobile app.
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– Dr Younis Kazim, CEO of Dubai Healthcare Corportation, Dubai Health Authority###
Some of the new features that will be added include video chat with the doctor, ask-your-doctor platform, and self-registration known as On My Way, which helps patients register using the app prior to the appointment, using eCheck-in.
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The app also has features such as requests for prescription and refilling medication as well as Hello Patient, which detects when a patient arrives for an appointment using geolocation and automatically signs or checks them in. This feature is highly convenient, as it will reduce patients’ waiting times on the day of their appointment.
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Uber and Careem options might be included in the app.
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The MyChart app currently provides several features such as digital access to appointment information, patient history, prescriptions, lab results, and in-patient visits. Users can book their appointment and receive an e-token, which helps in reducing waiting times. They can have access to their children’s vaccination records. The app also has a feature that links accounts of family members.
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Salama integrates with 30 of DHA’s core clinical systems, ranging from radiology and laboratory to Dubai Ambulance and non-clinical systems such as Emirates ID.
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The system is also used for sepsis management. DHA has developed a protocol using predictive analytics to detect and pre-empt sepsis to prevent deaths from the condition.
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Paperless future
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By the end of the year, it is expected that all DHA entities including hospitals and health centres using the Salama electronic medical record platform will reduce the consumption of paper by 50 per cent.
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“The electronic integration was a two-year project that was completed at the end of 2017,” says Qasim Yousef Abu Hantash, Head of Informatics Team at DHA. “DHA migrated 2.1 million patient records on to the new Salama system.
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“The protocol is the first of its kind in the Middle East and North Africa and the system has been live since December 2018 across all DHA hospitals.
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“The Predictive Module is incorporated into the Salama system to predict sepsis using Modified Early Warning Scores (MEWS) and laboratory testing to save lives.”
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The patient medical record platform is available across all DHA hospitals, primary healthcare centres, specialty centres and medical fitness centres.
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