(MENAFN- Emirates News Agency (WAM)) DUBAI, 31st January, 2023 (WAM) -- The UAE health authorities, including the Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHAP), Department of Health – Abu Dhabi (DoH), and Dhabi Health Authority (DHA), have announced the integration of 'Riayati', the National Unified Medical Record (NUMR), 'Malaffi' and“Nabidh” platforms.
This was announced during a press conference at the 'Emirates Health' platform when the three entities signed an agreement to link the three platforms electronically.
The ceremony was held on the sidelines of Arab Health 2023 in the Dubai World Trade Centre, which began yesterday and concludes on 2nd February.
Ahmed Ali Al Dashti, Assistant Under-Secretary for the Support Services Sector, MoHAP, Ahmed Abdullah Al Nuaimi, CEO of Corporate Shared Support Services Sector at DHA, and Dr. Hamed Ali Al Hashemi, Advisor to the Chairman of DoH, signed the agreement.
Ali Al Ajmi, Director of the Digital Health Department, MoHAP, and Dr. Mohammad Al Redha, Director of Health Informatics and Smart Health Department, DHA also, attended the press conference.
Representatives of various media outlets were also present.
This integration underlines strengthening the quality of medical services and achieving continuity of care in the UAE. It also marks an important achievement in the country's healthcare sector, reflecting the digital transformation strategy to create a sustainable and efficient healthcare system that provides exceptional patient services.
Al Dashti appreciated the outstanding efforts and the collaboration between the three parties, which aim to achieve the interests of the population and the country and its vision of reaching an integrated health system according to international standards.
Al Dashti said, 'The successful integration of 'Riayati', 'Malaffi' and“Nabidh” is considered a remarkable achievement in healthcare, as it enables healthcare providers to make better medical decisions that are aligned to patients' needs and ensures a better healthcare experience for UAE citizens and residents in the country.'
Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Al Hashemi stated,“The integration of three platforms in the UAE is a step in the right direction towards enhancing community health and safety. It will establish the country as a distinguished model for exchanging health information, highly regarded by other regional health systems.”
Al Hashemi added, 'Data plays a crucial role in enhancing health systems. It helps doctors make decisions that perfectly suit patients and allows us to transform them into valuable information for developing programmes and initiatives, creating policies, and improving society's overall health. This further solidifies the UAE's position as a leader in digital health.”
Al Ajmi said that the Unified National Health Platform aims to radically change the digital transformation of the UAE's healthcare sector, where it uses encryption to secure health information over a safe network. The integration of DoH's“Malaffi”, and DHA's 'Nabidh' project into the Riayati platform has led to a significant increase in the number of medical records available on the system. So far, the Riayati platform has included 1.9 billion medical records for 9.5 million patients, which over 90,000 health service providers can access in 3,057 medical facilities.
Al Ajmi stressed that the private sector plays a vital role in the success of the 'Riayati' platform, saying that the ministry is pleased with the growing engagement of private entities in the platform. Their participation is important for the project's success and helps bring healthcare services up to international standards, he added.
While emphasising the paramount importance of collaboration in crafting a healthcare model that stands tall among the finest in the world, Dr. Al Redha stated that the successful integration of the three platforms has been the result of the high level of coordination and shared goals between MoHAP, DHA and DoH.
Al Redha emphasised that the UAE's healthcare sector is experiencing rapid development and consistent improvements, particularly in digital transformation, in which the UAE has made significant progress.
He added that the 'Nabidh' platform would not have been possible had it not been for the DHA's constant efforts to provide the community with the best possible service and realise the nation's and Dubai's goals of achieving global competitiveness in the healthcare field.
Robert Denson, Acting CEO of Abu Dhabi Health Data Services 'Malaffi', said that linking the three platforms with one another represents a crucial national accomplishment, as it realises the UAE's strategic goal of delivering top-notch healthcare services and enhancing the well-being of all UAE citizens.“This continues our recent successes and ongoing efforts to enhance our platform.”
The platform integration will facilitate access to patient health information by doctors and healthcare providers throughout the UAE, improving patient care. Furthermore, healthcare providers will gain access to over 1.4 billion health records from 2,500 healthcare organisations connected to Malaffi, Denson added.
Malaffi, the region's first Health Information Exchange (HIE) platform, is one of the strategic initiatives launched by DoH. Additionally, DoH recently announced that all public and private hospitals in the emirate are now connected to the platform. This is an important milestone for healthcare providers to safely exchange important patient health information in real-time, creating a centralised database of unified patient records.
Malaffi provides easier access to medical records, which helps healthcare professionals save time and trouble transferring previous medical records and avoid undergoing the same tests. In addition, the platform enables healthcare facilities to be more efficient and better coordinated providing safer care across the Emirates.
MoHAP said it is committed to moving forward in line with the vision of the wise leadership, to elevate the health sector to the highest levels and strengthen means of cooperation and partnerships aligned with the UAE's future vision to become one of the leading countries in the world in terms of the quality of healthcare services.
The ministry is participating in Arab Health 2023, a forum for healthcare professionals in the Middle East and Africa, where the ministry showcases the latest innovations, technologies, and healthcare programmes to elevate the country's healthcare services.