Dubai: In a bid to integrate and streamline its electronic records, the National Reference Laboratory (NRL), part of Mubadala Investment Company’s network of world-class health care providers, linked its systems with the Dubai Health Authority’s (DHA) new Electronic Medical Record System, Salama.
DHA’s EMR system which provides complete details of registered patients at the click of a button went live in April this year, officials of NRL said on Sunday.
Out of the more than 4,700 tests offered by NRL, 2,000 different laboratory tests have now been interfaced between NRL and DHA, giving DHA’s physicians direct and automated access to those tests.
Through the bi-directional real-time interface connecting the DHA and NRL, DHA’s physicians now have access to NRL’s menu of sophisticated testing solutions, allowing doctors to automatically send test orders to NRL, and for test results performed by NRL to be sent and stored in each patient’s unique EMR.
The system provides many benefits, including faster, real-time results, and reduced risk of human error which in turn will improve quality and patient care. Since 70 per cent of diagnostic decisions are informed by laboratory test results, this initiative will greatly enhance medical care provided to DHA patients. It also brings economic benefits to the DHA by increasing efficiencies due to process automation, reduced work duplication, optimised use of manpower, and paperless processes.
Abdul Humaid Al Qubeisi, the CEO of NRL said: “Since its inception, NRL has worked and invested in advanced connectivity and integrated information systems, enabling us to become the first referral lab in the UAE to provide interface solutions to clients that enable the direct connection and two-way communication between the clients’ and NRL’s information systems. We are proud that the DHA trusted us to work closely together and ensure the seamless execution of the laboratory part of the Salama system.”
Humaid Al Qutami, the chairman of the Board and the director general of DHA said: “The Salama Project, the first of its kind in the Middle East region, is a comprehensive electronic system applied in all DHA health care facilities, including hospitals, primary health care, medical fitness centers, and specialised centres. The project creates a uniform individual e-record of an individual patient’s medical information, enabling the physician to easily obtain the patient’s file, regardless of where the patient was last treated within the DHA network”.
Al Qutami also added that the project not only represented a technological transformation in the health care system, but also demonstrates an advanced framework for medical services that exceeds patients’ expectations, and guarantees their satisfaction, happiness and comfort. As such, the Salama Project will enhance the patient experience at DHA hospitals, centres, and health clinics, and will ensure that each interaction is an outstanding and reliable one.
