Healthcare | Thursday 4 June, 2015 10:44 am |

FROM KING FAHAD SPECIALIST HOSPITAL - DAMMAM
King Fahad Specialist Hospital - Dammam Supports Staff Development, Empowers its Saudi Workforce

In keeping with their staff development plans, a group of healthcare professionals from the leading King Fahad Specialist Hospital - Dammam, Saudi Arabia, attended recently the Cleveland Clinic’s 6th Annual Patient Experience Summit in Cleveland, Ohio, USA.

With the aim of advancing leadership and patient experience within King Fahad Specialist Hospital - Dammam, a group of 10 leaders and clinicians visited US-based Cleveland Clinic and attended the four-day Patient Experience Summit in Cleveland last month.

The sixth annual Patient Experience: Empathy + Innovation Summit is devoted to exploring patient experience as a key differentiator essential to healthcare delivery. The annual summit features expert speakers, panel discussions and workshops about the global patient experience movement, providing participants from all disciplines the opportunity to identify shared challenges, engage in discussion and inspire innovative solutions. Over 2,000 healthcare professionals attended, of which 350 were participants from around the world. Specifically, over 50 participants were from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

An additional half-day was arranged for attendees from outside the US. Speakers focused on the international challenges, successes and applications with a highlight on the Middle East region. Attendees learned how organizations around the world strive to deliver the best clinical, physical and emotional experience to patients and families.

The group included executives, directors and key personnel in King Fahad Specialist Hospital-Dammam’s departments of innovation & corporate integration embracing patient experience; quality, decision support and strategic planning; patient relations; multiorgan transplantation; emergency medicine; healthcare informatics and allied health.
“At our facilities, we emphasize the importance of patient experience in serving patients and plan to introduce the latest developments in the field. Moreover, our investment continues in our administrative and clinical leaders; and our Saudi national workforce,” said Abeer Al Mulla, M.D., Associate Executive Director, Innovation & Corporate Integration at King Fahad Specialist Hospital - Dammam, said. “We were delighted to attend the Patient Experience Summit and visit Ohio-based Cleveland Clinic, the pioneers in the rapidly-growing field of patient experience. After the trip to Ohio, USA, our team returned to Saudi Arabia, bringing with them the knowledge and experience needed to maintain and improve their patient experience in their different functional departments, driving a positive patient experience at King Fahad Specialist Hospital - Dammam.”
“It is rewarding to see over 10 percent of our attendees at the Patient Experience Summit come from outside the US. This is evidence that patient experience as a concept is growing globally. We are always proud to share our knowledge with international delegates such as the group we hosted from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Middle East, and learn from their experiences, challenges and cultural differences,” said Adrienne Boissy, M.D., Chief Patient Experience Officer at Cleveland Clinic, Ohio.
Robert Stall, Executive Director of International Operations at Cleveland Clinic, said, “Cleveland Clinic is known for its strong, long-standing commitment to education and is committed to the growth and development of healthcare professionals. We are consistently willing to host participants from the Middle East region and Gulf countries. It makes us proud to cooperate with King Fahad Specialist Hospital - Dammam in developing the skills of their team members.”
In 2012, Cleveland Clinic established an office – in partnership with Healthcare Development Holding Co. – in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The office facilitates educational and training programs at Cleveland Clinic and provides consultancy services to local healthcare organizations in Saudi Arabia.

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About Cleveland Clinic
Cleveland Clinic is a nonprofit multispecialty academic medical center that integrates clinical and hospital care with research and education. Located in Cleveland, Ohio, it was founded in 1921 by four renowned physicians with a vision of providing outstanding patient care based upon the principles of cooperation, compassion and innovation. Cleveland Clinic has pioneered many medical breakthroughs, including coronary artery bypass surgery and the first face transplant in the United States. U.S.News & World Report consistently names Cleveland Clinic as one of the nation’s best hospitals in its annual “America’s Best Hospitals” survey. More than 3,000 full-time salaried physicians and researchers and 11,000 nurses represent 120 medical specialties and subspecialties. The Cleveland Clinic health system includes a main campus near downtown Cleveland, more than 75 Northern Ohio outpatient locations, including 16 full-service Family Health Centers, Cleveland Clinic Florida, the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas, Cleveland Clinic Canada, and Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi. Cleveland Clinic also manages Abu Dhabi’s tertiary hospital, Sheikh Khalifa Medical City, since 2007. In 2012, there were 5.1 million outpatient visits throughout the Cleveland Clinic health system and 157,000 hospital admissions. Patients came for treatment from every state and from more than 130 countries. Visit us at www.clevelandclinic.org. Follow us at www.twitter.com/ClevelandClinic.