Dubai: Dubai’s health sector is all set to have extensive smart solutions, including the Smart Personal Medical File system, implemented by the end of 2017.

This was revealed by Eisa Al Maidour, DHA’s Director-General, at a smart solutions exhibition in USA. Al Maidour headed a DHA delegation to the US-based Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) conference and exhibition this week.

The HIMSS conference is considered one of the finest gatherings of information technology specialists working in the field of smart health solutions which witnessed the participation of more than 250 non-profit health-related organisations, 1,300 companies and 600 health-care institutions.

Speaking at the exhibition on the advances made by the health sector of the emirate, Al Maidour said that Dubai had made great strides towards shifting to smart options and added that DHA was working towards comprehensive smart solutions in the health-care field from management and lab work to digital archiving, etc.

Al Maidour stressed the importance of establishing a comprehensive health-care database as it played a vital role in positively changing the habits and lifestyles of people and society.

A number of specialist smart solution providers working in the field of comprehensive smart solutions for patient e-medical files met Al Maidour on the sidelines of the exhibition, as the DHA plans to develop its existing system to be one of the smartest in the world.

The delegation also visited the largest providers of community health-care systems, with the aim of building a detailed health database for all the patients residing in Dubai.

The delegation visited a number of kiosks during the exhibition to review the latest innovations. Noteworthy among these was a digital display allowing inpatients to select the choice of dietary foods that will be prepared for them by dietary experts as per their condition. The delegation also visited existing smart hospitals with an aim to see how such smart services can be implemented at DHA hospitals, and to review latest innovative solutions for the smart archiving of digital photos, which began in the DHA in 2007.

Thanks to the continuous development of technology, digital photos can now be viewed by physicians via smart applications without the need for the physician to be physically present.

Quoting a recent US study, Al Maidour said that 70 per cent of medical practitioners use smart apps in their practices. He praised the Dubai leadership in successfully creating a smart society capable of using this technology to a point where it becomes a way of life across the UAE.

The DHA has recently launched a large number of smart apps that it continues to update, and is planning on launching even more specialised apps with the aim of building a safe and happy society by providing smart technologies that serve patients and physicians alike.

Accompanying Al Maidour on his US trip are Dr Manal Taryam, CEO of Primary Healthcare Sector and Head of the Smart Services Committee, Amani Al Jasmi, Director of DHA IT Department, Dr Mohammad Al Redha, Director Health Data and Information Analysis Department, Naeema Hassan Al Beloushi, Acting Head of Corporate Applications Section, Amerah Al Shaiban, Senior Systems Analyst, and Nadia Al Marzouqi, member of the Smart Pharmacy Committee.