DHA upgrades electronic medical record system

Dubai: In order to ensure, efficient and streamlined health care delivery, the Dubai Health Authority’s (DHA’s) Electronic Medical Record System, known as Salama, has been updated to ensure that patients visiting DHA hospitals have access to maximum number of healthcare services digitally and to enhance patient experience through the DHA app.

The patient medical record platform is available across all DHA hospitals, primary healthcare centres, specialty centres, medical fitness centres and private facilities accessing DHA’s SALAMA system.

Salama integrates with more than 30 of DHA’s core clinical systems and administrative systems ranging from major clinical systems such as Radiology, Lab, Endocrinology, Cardiology, Dubai Ambulance and extends to non-clinical systems. Salama is also integrated with other government and semi-government entities apart from private labs.

Salama systems have more than five million patient medical records and it ensures that patients visiting DHA health care facilities have access to their records digitally from their home enabling them to see the medications, upcoming appointments, online appointment facilities, availability of clinical results. Telehealth and tele-consultation are enabled for patients ensuring that the care is provided to patients at their ease.

Medicine distribution

Kleitham Al Shamsi, Director of Information Technology at DHA, said: “The project has been upgraded and supported with the best technologies, in order to keep pace with current and future requirements and provide integrated systems that better serve doctors and patients of DHA health facilities.”

Al Shamsi highlighted that upgraded features include delivering medicines to patients’ rooms, maintaining medicine stocks according to the required levels, classifying medicines according to colors and documenting them accurately. Moreover, from a patient point of view, Al Shamsi added, that patients can use the DHA app and access their medical records or their family member’s medical records. She emphasised that the service provides highest level of data privacy and security.

Al Shamsi explained that the upgraded system provides doctors with an opportunity to add comments and notes, review and audit documents as well as give medical orders required for the patients and submit the orders at the click of a button.

Patient info at a cick of a button

She added that the enhanced features have made it easier for the medical staff to modify their notes and view the treatment plan of patients and all medical information for newborns. For specialist doctors, the enhanced feature will allow to track the progress of the mother during labour and the condition of the feotus to provide care at any time. She pointed out that the medical staff can modify their notes through the ‘Chart Review’ feature.

Medical staff can also view the treatment plans of patients and information about newborns easily through the ‘Storyboard’ without the need to enter the file details. For specialist doctors - for example – it will help track the progress of labour and the condition of the foetus more clearly.

Al Shamsi said that the Salama system is not just an electronic patient record system. It is the foundation for several initiatives such as telemedicine and AI, which is in line with the goals of Article 5 of the 50-Year Charter issued by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. Additionally, the information received through Salama will help in disease-prevention, lifestyle modification and developing world-class evidence-based health policies.

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