"UAE improves healthcare through information technology"

" UAE improves healthcare through information technology \r\nIn February 2023,\u00a0 Emirate Health Services (EHS) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) launched an innovation strategy for the years 2023 through 2026. It intends to achieve a number of objectives, including enhancing the sustainability of health-related innovations.\r\n\r\nThe EHS strategy aims to build local skills and boost innovation in companies, adopt pilot projects and build a strong ecosystem of healthcare startups. Some of the areas already targeted include e-visits, electronic medical records\/electronic health records (EMR\/EHR), telemedicine, chatbot services, predictive analytics and mobile applications.\r\n\r\nAs is often the case in UAE countries, building local skills and a local ecosystem begins by bringing in established international players. This means the locals learn from the big players, which have developed their skills in larger markets.\r\n\r\nTo this end, the EHS ran a series of panel discussions at this year\u2019s Arab Health exhibition and congress, concluding with several agreements with local and international players. It announced a bundle of smart health projects, programmes and applications.\r\n\r\nIn January 2023, EHS launched the Care AI and Digital Twin projects, each of which is a first of its kind in the region. Care AI is a basic system for a smart healthcare facility, supported by artificial intelligence (AI) for self-monitoring, tracking patient behaviour and movement, and using computer vision to assist doctors in diagnosing patients. In addition to automatically updating and analysing patient data, Care AI also uses AI technology to continuously improve care based on information collected about the patient\u2019s condition.\r\n\r\nCare AI evaluates and tracks compliance with approved health and safety protocols across EHS\u2019s affiliated facilities, collecting information on how well safety protocols are implemented. Care AI also helps to analyse and evaluate patient condition.\r\n\r\nEHS is implementing its\u00a0 Digital Twin project \u00a0in partnership with Schneider Electric and Microsoft at the Al Qassimi Hospital. The aim of the project is to reduce the carbon footprint of the facilities, cutting energy consumption by up to 30%, while simultaneously reducing breakdowns and maintenance work by up to 20%. Digital twins will be used to monitor and make predictions about carbon emissions and optimise use of renewable energy sources, such as solar power.\r\n\r\n \r\n The effects of Covid on healthcare systems\u00a0 \r\nEHS had been applying technology to improve healthcare for several years by the time the Covid-19 pandemic hit. Then, during Covid, new applications were developed in reaction to the crisis \u2013 and in many cases, those apps are now being used for other purposes.\r\n\r\n Mubaraka Ibrahim , acting CIO of EHS, explained some of these technologies during an\u00a0 interview \u00a0at the\u00a0 World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Forum 2022 .\r\n\r\nAccording to Ibrahim, EHS deployed an app to provide information about Covid-19 and help patients make appointments and register vaccinations. At the time (June 2022), the app had 1.7 million downloads. It also set up a virtual clinic during the pandemic to allow patients to talk to a doctor from home.\r\n\r\nThese innovations are still being used now that people can move more freely. The emphasis is now on using the tools to help patients reach medical care providers no matter where they are. \u201cBefore, they had to travel to go to the doctor,\u201d said Ibrahim. \u201cWhy should we do this now?\u201d\r\n\r\nAI and machine learning were introduced in the UAE to make predictions. During the pandemic, EHS used these technologies to make predictions and assess risks associated with Covid. They collected patient data in a database and estimated which patients were most at risk, who was the most likely to be hospitalised, or worse. Not only did these predictions help determine who should be vaccinated, they also helped determine where resources were needed in hospitals.\r\n\r\n \r\n The growing role of AI and big data analytics\u00a0 \r\nSince the pandemic, AI and big data have been playing an increasingly large role in healthcare in the UAE. In early 2023, Abu Dhabi-based\u00a0 Presight AI \u00a0signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with\u00a0 G42 Healthcare \u00a0to develop a foundational big data model. The partners will use Presight\u2019s omni-analytics platform and G42 Healthcare\u2019s expertise in the health industry to build solutions for healthcare providers to ease administrative practices, improve data accuracy and reduce manual data entry.\r\n\r\nThe partners also intend to provide services to individuals at home. Combining data collected from smartwatches, wristbands and advanced omics applications, they hope to improve the early detection of health problems and provide recommendations on diet, sleeping schedules and exercise plans for optimal health.\r\n\r\nA key ingredient in both AI and analytics is data \u2013 lots of it. The UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHAP) launched a platform two years ago to make it easier to access medical records. The\u00a0 Riayati \u00a0platform makes healthcare data more available in the UAE by connecting public and private health facilities. Riayati is expected to improve care coordination and make critically important patient data available for triage and emergency treatment.\r\n\r\nRiayati is part of the National Unified Medical Record (NUMR) programme, and over time it will also implement the MoHAP\u2019s \u201cpost office\u201d initiative to enable seamless exchange of insurance claims between healthcare facilities and insurance companies. The single patient filing system will be accessible across the UAE.\r\n\r\nRiayati is currently being integrated with two other major patient records platforms in the UAE \u2013\u00a0 Malaffi , which is operated by Abu Dhabi Health Data Services (ADHDS), and\u00a0 Nabidh , which is operated by the Dubai Health Authority. ADHDS is owned by\u00a0 G42 Healthcare , which does much more than collect medical records.\r\n\r\nG42 Healthcare carries out genetic testing and is developing AI algorithms to improve diagnostics. Medical information on the local population helps diagnose the diseases that affect people in the area.\r\n\r\n \r\n "

"UAE improves healthcare through information technology"

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