Dubai: Etisalat Digital, a business unit of etisalat, and Mobile Doctors 24-7 (MD 24-7) have signed an agreement as part of Dubai Future Accelerators (DFA) programme to bring future medical care solutions to the UAE and the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region.

MD 24-7 offers a mobile app and 24-7 call centre staffed with general practitioners, family medicine specialists, paediatricians, psychiatrists, pharmacists, wellness advisors, nurses and case managers.

MD 24-7 also provides a ‘Hospital at Home’ programme licensed by the US-based Johns Hopkins University. The programme, with MD 24-7 tele-monitoring technology and virtual clinics, allows patients to be monitored and treated in the comfort of their homes or offices and save about 50 per cent of alternative cost.

The service offered allows anyone to have immediate access to a highly qualified licensed physician or wellness expert at any time, 365 days a year, whether at home, work, on a business trip, or on vacation, without the need to make an appointment or wait in an emergency room queue.

Etisalat Digital will provide digital enabling capabilities for MD 24-7 services. The two companies will work together to develop chronic disease management solutions that will contribute to reducing chronic patients’ emergency room visits, reduce the average length of stay in hospital, and reduce unnecessary hospital readmissions.

This partnership has been initiated under the DFA programme, which brings together start-up businesses with Dubai Government entities, allowing them to build, test and deploy solutions for 21st century challenges.

MD 24-7 was one of 35 companies selected from over 1,000 applications from around the world in the second DFA cohort.

Raouf Khalil, founder and CEO of MD 24-7, said “people should have access to ethical and reliable healthcare round-the-clock. Our full-time doctors provide ethical medical advice to patients by telling them the truth about what they need, not just what they can afford. This is the only way to ensure a proper balance between quality and cost”.

He added: “Our solution to the many issues facing healthcare provision is to change consumer behaviour by providing them 24-7 access to a system that avoids unnecessary waste of healthcare resources.”

Francisco Salcedo, SVP of Etisalat Digital, said: “We are pleased to partner with MD 24-7 that will help meet specific requirements of the health-care sector. These creative and innovative solutions will use futuristic technologies to foster change in the ecosystem. This project is in line with the formation of Etisalat Digital’s long-term objectives to tap such opportunities and support the UAE leadership’s objectives in enabling digital transformation in the country.”

Khalfan Belhoul, CEO of DFA, said: “The challenges put forth aim to meet His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai’s vision of accelerating the future and making Dubai a test bed for emerging technologies. The [DFA] is one of the main programmes that follow the Future Agenda, the roadmap map of Dubai Future Foundation that works towards making Dubai the city of the Future.”