Dubai Health Authority (DHA) is encouraging local hospitals to turn paperless and adopt a rating system to evaluate their progress such as a customised version of Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model (Emram).

The 'paperless hospitals' move is being initiated with the active support of Dubai eGovernment officials, said Qadhi Saeed Al Murooshid, DHA director general, while speaking at three-day HIMSS Middle East Conference in Dubai.

“The DHA believes that modern healthcare technology, advanced information systems and a well-developed work force is essential for health planning, evaluation, assessment and follow-up,' Murooshid said in open address on Monday.

'That will enable the DHA to make the best decisions based on the documented information which will ultimately lead to upgraded systems and improved healthcare delivery,' he added.

Emram is an internationally-recognised assessment model which rates on a scale of zero to seven how technically advanced a hospital’s administrative function is by offering hospitals an opportunity to evaluate their progress towards a paper-free environment.

HIMSS has objectively found that hospitals at the top two levels of the Emram, stage six and seven have better healthcare results including fewer adverse drug events, reduced error in healthcare systems and a tangible return on investment.

Echoing those sentiments and outlining Dubai Government’s mission for eGovt Ahmad Bin Humaidan, the director general of Dubai eGovernment, said that any efforts towards paperless hospitals would run in parallel with Dubai eGovernment’s vision.

“Ease the lives of people and businesses interacting with the Dubai government and contribute in establishing Dubai as a leading business hub,” he said, adding that Dubai  as a globally competitive government was, “Customer Focused and Efficient.”

The issues of adopting electronic records and rating systems will be addressed during the three-day event. John Hoyt executive vice president of HIMSS Analytics, will deliver his presentation on what type of EMR Model should hospitals in the Middle East adopt.

“Stakeholders agree about the benefits to patient delivery, it will be engaging the process from different perspectives and agreeing on the key parameters that will no doubt lead to lively debate,” said Hoyt.

Other conference highlights include, a session by Patricia Wise, on IT incentives and the lessons learned about the definition of ‘Meaningful Use’ which could have a major impact on healthcare IT budgets in the US. Also a panel discussion on mHealth will be hosted.-TradeArabia News Service