About 70 per cent of hospitals in Dubai are in the beginning stages of adopting an electronic model, according to a survey conducted by the Dubai Health Authority in co-ordiantion with Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS).

The in-depth survey, which was carried out for the first time in the Middle East region, was aimed at determining the electronic efficiency of hospitals in Dubai, said a DHA statement.

The duo surveyed 21 private and four public hospitals in Dubai to determine to what extent hospitals use digital technology and whether they have a paperless environment.

The survey is the first step in the DHA’s long term aim to ensure all hospitals in Dubai eventually adopt the electronic model which will facilitate the provision of better healthcare services to the community, said a senior official.

'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,' revealed Laila Al Jassmi, CEO of health policy and strategy at the DHA.

'The DHA intends to deploy the survey annually to guide the authority on how to best assess the health IT landscape in Dubai,' she added.

The eventual aim for Dubai is to ensure all hospitals follow the electronic model, said Al Jassmi.

The survey was carried out using the Emram (Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model) system for the Middle East region. Emram is accepted today world-wide as an international benchmark to stage hospital’s electronic efforts.

John Hoyt, executive VP of HIMSS Analytics, US said, 'Due to the completion of this survey, hospitals in Dubai are now in a better position to compare themselves to other hospitals in terms of how paperless they are.'

'The survey also helps hospitals get a complete picture of their current spending and highlights the cost-efficiency if they were to adopt a paperless environment,' he added.

Dr Mohammad Al Redha of DHA said, “Introducing 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.”

'Our results showed that, 23 hospitals in Dubai (39.1 per cent) are at the beginning of their EMR journey at stage 1. Another 30.4 per cent are at stage 2. Few hospitals are at stages 3 and 4. However, no hospital was awarded stage 5, 6 or 7,' he explained.

More than a fifth of the hospitals in Dubai (21.7 per cent) are not on an Electronic Medical Records track, he added.-TradeArabia News Service