Centralised immunisation records rolled out

Dubai Health Authority (DHA) will create a unique immunisation record for each individual in Dubai to improve preventative care, said a top health official on the sidelines of last week’s Dubai Health Forum.

“The HASANA initiative will provide access to unified immunisation records at any facility and will ensure availability of relevant data,” said Amani Al Jassmi, Director of Information Technology at DHA. “It also enables DHA to lay the foundation for the Population Health Management System, which will be robust enough to manage and contain the spread of communicable diseases.”

Amani added that the immunisation management system will have a host of features such as immunisation schedules and eligibility, immunisation planning and management, adverse effects and mass immunisation campaigns. 

HASANA will help in outbreak management prevention, monitoring, management and analysis of outbreak cases. It will also aid investigation management — identification, investigation and management of cases and contacts. It will help track clinical data related to investigations, signs and symptoms, complications, outcomes, interventions and treatment plans.

Amani said the system will seamlessly integrate government and private health facilities and partners, enabling all to access the same immunisation data. 

HASANA will help equip decision-makers in Dubai with the necessary tools to prevent, detect and manage the outbreak of communicable diseases in an efficient manner. It will also provide a smart application to manage and administer school mass immunisation campaigns. 

She said in addition to the immunisation record, DHA has lined up few pertinent initiatives to enhance the healthcare experience: “We will roll out the new systems during the course of this year. As a contributor to the Smart Cities initiative, DHA is working closely with the Smart Dubai office to achieve Dubai’s Unified strategy which will enable Dubai to become the innovation benchmark for smart cities seeking global sustainability and competitiveness.”

Dubai Health Authority has launched a new innovative transformation initiative to redesign Sheryan — the Health Regulation Department’s Licensing and Inspection System for Health Facilities and Medical Professionals.

“The new Sheryan programme is another initiative that will further advance Dubai Health Authority’s digital reinvention journey to provide citizen-centric experiences in the healthcare sector that are infused with innovation and powered by emerging technologies,” said Amani. “To enable healthcare professionals and facilities operating in Dubai to better meet the health and wellness needs of a growing population with higher patient outcomes and delivery of care.”

“We are building a UAE level Healthcare Professional Registry (enabled on blockchain), which will help the country create a distributed network of healthcare professionals shared by UAE health authorities as a single source to seamlessly issue part-time and temporary medical licenses to professionals and enable them to care for the need of Expo 2020’s exhibitors and visitors.”

After the success of Salama and achieving a rating of EMRAM 6 score across DHA Facilities, DHA is working towards obtaining EMRAM 7. EMRAM is accepted today worldwide as an international benchmark to stage hospital’s electronic efforts. The model uses a 0-7 stage scale to rate hospitals based on the extent to which they have adopted a paperless, digital system. Stage 7 means the hospital is a digital hospital.

“As part of its healthcare transformation journey, DHA is planning on extending its platform to allow private facilities to share patient’s health related information as per each patients consent in a more secured and efficient manner,” explained Amani. “This will help Dubai to achieve a unified health record for the emirate of Dubai. 

The new revamped system will help DHA with the following:
 

• Standardise the system across various overseas medical offices and embassies

• Decrease the time for handling a request

• Provide an integrated solution for medical data and financial data for better transparency

• The project aims to raise the level of service provided to the healthcare facilities and health professionals involved in the emirate of Dubai for the completion of licensing transactions effectively 

• Increase happiness indicator, which supports Dubai Health Authority and the Dubai Government’s vision and objectives.