Al Futtaim Health Hub opens first-of-its-kind Smart Clinic in Dubai
50 smart clinics slated to be opened by 2023 across the UAE
Dubai: Al Futtaim Health Hub launched its first Smart Clinic in Dubai on Monday.
A unique interactive and digital innovation, this clinic will allow patients to go through guided medical examinations, virtually connect with the doctor, without having to leave the comfort of their homes.
Introducing the first smart clinic on Monday, Dr Haidhar Saeed Al Yousuf, managing director of Al Futtaim Health, said, “The smart clinic is an extremely convenient option, especially for chronic patients to get an instant diagnosis and refill their prescriptions. It is the first of its kind to deliver quick, remote and good quality health care solutions at affordable prices to UAE residents, in the comfort on their homes.”
How you can register
If a first-time patient needs to register, he or she can come to the kiosk placed at designated public places in malls and community centres. Either one can scan the QR code at the door or the Emirates ID to register. Once the registration is done, the virtual assistant on the screen will ask for necessary documents, which could include diagnostic reports or prescriptions, insurance card, all of which can be scanned and uploaded. Once cleared, the resident can walk inside where a nurse will check all the vital parameters and upload these even as the doctor on the screen will read and start the consultation. If a patient is unable to reach the kiosk, the same can be done from office or home.
50 Smart Clinics to open by 2023
Dr Al Yousuf added that Al Futtaim Health was on track to open 50 such clinics in two years across the UAE. “We plan to open 50 such clinics across the UAE by 2023. The location of 10 has already been finalised. By end of 2022, 20 of these clinics will be working at various corporate hubs, community centres, shopping malls for quick and easy accessibility to health care solutions for all,” he added.
How virtual health consultation helps
Take the case of Myrna Tyrone, a Dubai resident who was down with COVID-19. She had missed many of her appointments with her endocrinologist.
Tyrone, 41, had a history of Poly Cystic Ovaries (PCO) and Type II diabetes and required to see the endocrinologist in order to get her under-insurance consultation and prescribed medicine.
A patient of Al Futtaim Hub Clinics, she was able to do this in one shot at their recently opened Smart Clinic at the Festival Tower in Dubai Festival City.
“I am pre-registered patient. Therefore, they had all my details. I logged on to the Smart Clinic address; spoke to the virtual assistant who then referred me to their nurse. I could have personally gone to their smart clinic kiosk in Festival City. However, I was in quarantine. The nurse and doctor were able to attend to me seamlessly, carry out a virtual consult. The nurse took my vital parameters while the doctor had prescribed some basic blood work. I came back with the results and he was immediately able to prescribe my regular PCOD and diabetes medication remotely. Their online pharmacy picked up the prescription and within a few hours, my month-long medication was delivered to me at home,” said Tyrone.