Abu Dhabi: More than 1,300 illnesses and medical conditions have been diagnosed with the help of a smartphone application that allows patients to seek medical help without visiting a healthcare facility.
The application, entitled ‘TeleMed’, is part of leading medical provider Mubadala Healthcare’s many innovations at the Abu Dhabi Telemedicine Centre, a facility that provides patient access to bilingual, non-emergency medical advice.
“This centre is enabling advances in the dispensing of advice for non-urgent medical conditions, as well as helping to increase patients’ understanding of common complaints. Our data suggests that for over 50 per cent of calls, there was no [subsequent] need for the patient to visit a physician in person,” Suhail Al Ansari, executive director at Mubadala Healthcare, told Gulf News.
“Such innovations [therefore] empower us all, and help patients and doctors alike to make better healthcare decisions,” he added.
Al Ansari was speaking during UAE National Innovation Week, which aims to inspire creative and progressive solutions across the country.
Mubadala Healthcare, part of Abu Dhabi Government-owned development company Mubadala, is one of Abu Dhabi’s leading medical care providers. It currently operates seven leading healthcare facilities, including the Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, Tawam Molecular Imaging Centre in Al Ain and the Imperial College London Diabetes Centre.
In the first year since its launch in October 2014, TeleMed was accessible to patients covered by the National Insurance Company’s (Daman) Emirati-exclusive Thiqa plan, as well as those covered by Daman enhanced packages.
The most common reasons why patients use TeleMed include coughs and colds, fevers, stomach illnesses, paediatric advice, skin conditions, back pain, asthma and allergies.
As reported by Gulf News in May, other smartphone services that allow patients to get medical advice are also available in the UAE, such as Mobile Doctors. TeleMed, however, allows patients to send pictures to the consulting doctor, such as images of skin rashes, so that they can get more accurate medical advice. Another feature entitled Body Area enables patients to indicate where they are experiencing discomfort on their body.
Al Ansari said that the service receives calls from people living in rural areas, as well as from people in Fujairah and Ras Al Khaimah.
Once a patient gets in touch, a nurse records the reported symptoms and a doctor then calls back within half an hour. If required, the doctor will urge that the caller approach a medical facility, and will advise on the steps that need to be taken before the visit.
“The use of such advanced technology is widening access to healthcare, and is making medicine more personalised and precise in the process,” Al Ansari said.
He added that Mubadala Healthcare will continue its efforts to make its staff more familiar with helpful, digital technologies.
“But it is vital that these learnings are shared widely across the Abu Dhabi community in order to inspire further innovation and encourage continued research and development,” Al Ansari said.
