Dubai: Smart, AI-powered health care and health information systems that can pre-empt, predict and provide integrated solutions for better health care delivery across the UAE dominated the offerings in the health care sector at GITEX 2019.
All the three arms of health care – Dubai Health Authority (DHA), Ministry of Health and Prevention and Health Department of Abu Dhabi - showcased new integrated systems that would bring health care into the hands of people at the click of a button on their phones. The highlights:
Mindspire mental health app (DHA): Two computer science graduates from the American University of Sharjah have created a mobile application which will go live in two months. Explaining the free app that can be downloaded on iOS and android platforms, creators Jayroop Ramesh and Niha KT of AUS said: “This app allows the person using it complete anonymity. All he or she needs to do is key in age and gender to register and then mark his or her mood on the emotional wheel that is based on the Ekman’s Atlas of Emotion which is an interactive tool supported by the Dalai Lama to measure the spectrum of emotions.” Based on information provided, the app categorises the person in the range of severe, moderate to milldy depressive. For the mildly depressed the app is able to tackle the case by itself while it provides live chat and hotline help for the more severe cases and complimentary counselling appointments with volunteer mental health specialists listed on the app.
Smart Health Alert: A system to be integrated with the electronic medical record system, Salama will be introduced across all DHA hospitals by the first quarter of 2020. It aims to sound an early alert to the doctor and nurses examining the patient, predicting if the patient is at risk of deterioration. Reem Ali and Faten Yousuf, senior health informatics system analysts, explained: “Based on a patient’s health parameters such as blood pressure, oxygen saturation, respiration, pulse and level of consciousness of a patient, a system call Modified Early Warning Score (MEWS scores) is recorded in Salama. Anything from 0 -2 is normal while anything above 3 sounds the alert.” The scores are different for patients who come in for medical consultation, surgery, ICU etc.
DubaiHealthbooking.com: This is a single platform that permits residents and tourists from anywhere in the world to access the details of all private and publics hospitals, clinics and specialty centres and make advance appointments with doctors either on the portal or through the free app. Mohammad Gehrewaty, project manager from DHA, said: “The app which in the first phase went live in March 2019 and covered all Primary Health Centres, Rashid, Latifa, Hatta and Dubai Hospitals. By early 2020, it will cover 3,400 public and private hospitals clinics and speciality centres, streamlining doctor appointments and also checking a patient’s health insurance eligibility for the appointment.”
M-gene app for predicting genetic disease (Health Ministry): This is a free camera-based app that permits close-up pictures of a newborn and provides diagnostic face reading capability to provide early alerts on facial abnormalities and many conditions like Down’s and Edward’s Syndrome and certain kinds of autism.
Hayat, Malaffi: Also on display were the Hayat organ donation app that was introduced in January 2019 that has many registered as potential organ donors and revives hopes of over 11,000 patients awaiting organ donations.
The Malaffi (integrated health information file) system introduced by the Department of Health Abu Dhabi and private organisation Injazat, was also on display. Atif al Braiki, CEO of Malaffi from Injazat said this system seeks to integrate 1,900 private and public hospitals data in Abu Dhabi, providing a unified medical file on every patient which will help cut costs, streamline treatments and also relay reliable data to introduce public health programmes to contain epidemics and negative health trends in society.
