Dubai Health Authority (DHA) plans to set up a new innovation centre in partnership with the private sector. The facility, to be located behind Rashid Hospital, will implement the latest technologies such as 3D printing and artificial intelligence.

The move is aimed at promoting public-private collaboration in the field of healthcare innovation and to provide a permanent base for entities keen on supporting medical innovation, said a statement from DHA.

Humaid Al Qutami, the chairman of the board and director-general of the DHA, highlighted the importance of creating an environment that is conducive to innovation.

"Over the years, we have seen advances in medicine which have directly contributed to better patient outcomes. Health is a sector that directly affects us all and innovation in healthcare can save lives, improve patient outcomes, promote health and well-being, so undoubtedly innovation is the future of better health," he stated.

According to him, the DHA is working with the private sector to establish the most suitable model to foster this concept and ensure round-the-year activation.

Last week, the first meeting took place with the DHA team and members of the private sector. They were provided a tour of the under construction Centre to seek their inputs. A brainstorming meeting took place to discuss the way forward.   

Dr Mohammad Al Redha, director of the Department of Organisational Transformation at DHA, said: "In line with the vision of our leaders and DHA health strategy 2016-2021, innovation in healthcare is an important pillar of our strategy. For us innovation means the ability to harness new technologies, to implement newer methods of healthcare delivery and management in order to provide patients with improved healthcare and make their lives better."

"At the end of the day, patient-centered care is our priority and improving their lives and providing them with happiness is our primary focus. Thus, for us, innovation is the vehicle that will revolutionize healthcare and directly lead to patient well-being and happiness," he added.

DHA, he stated, has been working on the implementation of latest technologies such as 3D printing in healthcare and artificial intelligence.

Over the course of the last year, DHA successfully deployed 3D technology across its dental services department and carried out complicated surgeries using this technology, revealed Dr Bassam Mahboub, a consultant pulmonologist and the head of pulmonary medicine unit and the program director for care model innovation in DHA.

"The DHA also worked with the private sector on 3D-printed artificial legs that was used to provide amputees with a new lease to life. One of the amputees mentioned how her 3D-printed foot was much closer to the feeling of having an actual foot compared to the previous one she was wearing," he said citing a special case.

"One additional benefit of 3D printing is the cost-effectiveness of the technology, which makes it affordable across a wide spectrum of patients who need it,” said Mahboub.

Presently DHA is working with the private sector on the implementation of AI in medical fitness screening and in other areas of healthcare such as stroke detection, management and diagnosis as well as rehabilitation.

DrFive is one of the 10 firms that took part in the initial meeting with DHA at the Innovation Centre.

Chiho Rim, the co-founder and chief strategist at DrFive, said: “Our technology uses AI to detect the exact type of stroke the patient is suffering from and we are able to detect this as AI can read the MRI and CT scan and immediately present the doctor with the needed information. We have conducted trials in hospitals in South Korea."

The other firms present at the meeting included Etisalat Digital, Novartis, HCI group, IBM, Credit Swiss, Fasaisal, MSD and Cognitive Healthcare International (CHI).-TradeArabia News Service