All 27 acute public and private sector hospitals in Dubai have adopted the Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model (EMRAM) created by HIMSS Analytics, said a top official at the Dubai Health Authority (DHA).

The hospitals have adopted this system within their overall electronic system so that they can benchmark themselves in term of their electronic efficiencies, added Laila Al Jassmi, CEO of Health Policy and Strategy Sector at the DHA.

The EMRAM benchmark is standardized and used across USA, Canada and Asia.

“This move is significant for Dubai’s health sector because it means that hospitals are understanding the importance of being electronic and are benchmarking themselves against one common universally accepted EMRAM system,” Al Jassmi said.

In order to benchmark hospitals, DHA used an in-depth survey, for the second time in a row, to gauge the electronic efficiency of hospitals.

The survey aims to determine to what extent hospitals use digital technology and whether they have a paperless environment.

Dr Mohammad Al Redha, director, Health Data and Information Analysis Department, Health Policy & Strategy Sector, Dubai Health Authority said: “This year, we repeated the survey and found that several hospitals have improved their electronic efficiencies and international ratings.  Eventually, the DHA’s aim is to facilitate a completely paperless environment across all hospitals and health centres in the Emirate and such engagement initiatives with the hospitals, is a step in this direction.”

The e-Health Section at the Health Policy and Strategy Sector spearheaded the deployment of the survey in association with the HIMSS Analytics Office in Singapore.

The DHA intends to deploy the survey annually to guide Dubai Health Authority on how to best assess the health IT landscape in the Emirate of Dubai.

“There are several advantages of being a paperless hospital. Today, information systems in hospitals have a tremendous capability to help improve quality, safety and efficiency. Adopting a paperless environment leads to a reduction in medication errors, reduction in process time, and increases medical staff satisfaction,” Dr Al Redha added.

“Having electronic information systems in hospitals helps doctors respond to investigation results immediately, which effectively means patients’ are treated sooner and that in itself is a significant benefit.”

“We adopted the EMRAM model which uses a 0-7 stage scale to rate hospitals based on the extent to which they have adopted a paperless, digital system. Stage 7 means the hospital is a paperless and digital hospital,” Dr Al Redha said.

He explained that the overall results were better than last year and that two private sector hospitals had drastically improved their rating- which meant that they had adopted more electronic systems over the last year.

Dr Al Redha said that this survey will help the DHA in its long terms plans for developing the necessary standards for implementing and managing the health information systems in the Emirate.

“The ultimate aim of DHA’s eHealth goal is to improve the quality, efficiency and safety of clinical care by making relevant health information conveniently accessible to patients and authorized care providers within the Emirate of Dubai,” he said.

“We will use the EMR Adoption Model Score(s) to identify the gaps in Dubai’s health care system’s health information technology development and determine the most appropriate initiatives including budgeting, policies and strategies to assist hospitals develop health IT systems and achieve a paperless environment,” Dr Al Redha concluded. – TradeArabia News Service