The Dubai Health Authority (DHA) is continuing to launch several new smart initiatives and update its existing smart apps in a bid to better serve patients, enhance efficiency and healthcare management, said a top health official during the ongoing 36th Gitex Technology Week.
Amani Al Jassmi, Director of Information Technology at the DHA, said: “The DHA has launched and is working on the implementation of several pertinent projects that will revolutionise the manner in which healthcare is delivered, the focus is on patient-centric care and convenience. One such project is the Salama project, the electronic medical record system for all DHA hospitals, which is near completion and the final roll out will take place by the end of this year. Another project, which we recently launched is the Salem- electronic system for medical fitness,” said Al Jassmi.
The medical fitness test is a mandatory requirement for all expats in the UAE. Medical fitness screening is a prerequisite for a residency, employment or education visa.
Hayati app
This diabetes management app is available on the Google Play Store and Apple store. It empowers type 1 and type 2 diabetics to take control of their condition through easy self-management techniques. Among its features, a particularly useful one enables diabetics to directly transfer the glucometer reading on to the app. The results can then be shared directly with the doctor.
App users can also press the emergency tab to send immediate notifications to two registered family members as well as 999.
Online medical portal
One of the pillars of a robust medical sector is regulation and accountability and with the introduction of the DHA’s online medical portal in December 2016, the Authority provided a smart environment and convenience to better serve the community and medical tourists.
In March this year the system went fully digital and latest statistics reveal that the time to lodge a complaint has been reduced from 2 to 3 days to just over 30 minutes. Customers can log on to the mc.dha.gov.ae website which is compatible with mobile and smart devices.
Salem: New electronic medical fitness system
The new paperless electronic health screening system will enhance the medical fitness testing system for visa purposes by completing details in under a minute instead of an hour.
Salem, the smart new system integrated into all 16 DHA medical fitness centers, will cut down customer waiting time, reduce human intervention and deliver blood and X-Ray reports electronically. The system will greatly help residents renewing their residence visa. Residents seeking to renew their residence visa can go to any of the 65 accredited and approved centres or any of the 16 medical fitness centers and update their email and contact numbers.
All identity data will be retrieved automatically via a bar code from the General Directorate of Residency and Foreign Affairs (GDRFA). The customer can directly proceed to any of the 16 medical fitness centers to get the tests done. The results will be electronically conveyed to the applicant.
“The move is significant given the vast number of people who require medical fitness services in Dubai,” said Al Jassmi. Salem is integrated with the GDRFA. Once the applicant completes all the due screening procedures, the applicant will receive a SMS notification alert and we will send the results electronically via an email.
In addition to these projects, over the last two years, DHA has introduced several apps for the public, which are used for health awareness as well as for accessing health services.
DAMMI, the new Blood Donation app
DHA also introduced the Blood Donation App last month. The app, known as Dammi, aims to simplify the process of finding a time and place to make a
donation.
Through this app, donors can receive invitations for activities related to blood donation through their smart device and get notifications for donation campaigns.
The application will allow the public to register their details to be contacted during emergencies and disasters to donate blood. This will support the blood services and help develop a bigger database of donors to be able to cover hospitals’ needs. This is particularly important when the need arises for rare blood groups.
Dammi will help streamline the blood donation process and provide a smart solution that allows blood donors to locate the nearest donation centre or mobile blood donation unit.
Tifli app
The Tifli ( my baby) app is available on Apple store and Google Play. It provides information about babies for mothers from preconception until the child is five years.
The Tifli app has a new feature known as Belly Speaker that allows a pregnant woman to hear her baby’s heartbeat by just placing the speaker on her belly.
The app also enables mothers to create their own journals and post their daily experiences and photos of her pregnancy.
The app has a vaccination synchronisation calendar, which allows the mother to check the dates of her children’s vaccination appointments.
Existing features allow pregnant women to reschedule or cancel a doctor’s appointment and enable access to videos and articles on best practices during different stages of pregnancy. Mothers can track their baby’s growth and weekly milestones, and even monitor their labour pain to understand their contractions better to know when they should visit a hospital.
App users will also have access to information about breastfeeding, ways to overcome breastfeeding difficulties, breastfeeding techniques and best
nutritional practices.
