Saudi Healthcare Organizations to be Recognized among Top 25% of World's Most Digital Hospitals

The 2030 eHealth and Beyond Conference & Exhibition is due to be held Apr.10-11at The Four Seasons Riyadh Hotel under the auspices of Deputy Prime Minister, the Second Deputy Crown Prince and the Minister of Defense Prince Mohammad Bin Salman Al Saud. The event is organized by The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) and hosted by The Medical Services Department of the Ministry of Defense.

The occasion is planned to double the number of hospitals to be recognized as being among the top 25% of the world's most digital hospitals and due to recognize the following newly certified Stage-6 digital hospitals:

·      King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz University Hospital, Riyadh;  

·      King Saud University Medical City, Riyadh;

·      King Khalid University Hospital, Riyadh;

·      King Abdullah Medical Complex,  Jeddah;

·      King Abdulaziz University Hospital,  Riyadh;

·      Security Forces Hospital Program,  Dammam.

With two of its hospitals achieving Stage – 6, Dr. Abdulrahman AlMuammar, CEO, King Saud University Medical Cty said, “The implementation of EMR System is key to achieve our national strategy; and we are proud to be part of the facilitation of a unified EMR System across KSA, which has afforded us instant access to patient records, improved standards of quality healthcare, better integrated workflow, minimal transcription errors, enhanced  patient treatment and lower service cost.”

Reaching Stage - 6 is a result of persistent focus, good direction and steadfast commitment from every  hospital management that set and acted upon clear goals for improving safety, minimizing errors, and prioritizing IT implementation, which eventually qualified their hospitals to the top 25% of the world's most digital hospitals.  

“Technology plays an important role in healthcare delivery as it enhances efficiency, patient safety and resource utilization. At King Abdullah Medical Complex in Jeddah, technology is essential to the patient care process. By achieving HIMSS Analytics EMRAM Stage – 6, we have proven ourselves using technology for patient care, " said Dr. Hatim Al-Omari, CEO, King Abdullah Medical Complex, Jeddah.

The conference will cover five key topics that are critical to the healthcare industry striving to accomplish the ambitions contemplated for Vision 2030 and NTP 2020, both of which aim to upgrade the quality of healthcare into the digital era and arm it up with analytics and informatics. The topics include:

• The best practices to be used by hospitals in KSA for digital transformation;

• Developing standards that drive health information exchange;

• Change Management: Using Prosci’s Change Management Process;

• Examining best practice for a successful enterprise medical imaging;

• Clinical Coding and ICD-10/AM: Concepts and Values;

• Creating a Unified Patient Medical Records System.  

KSA hospitals previously recognized at Stage - 6 include King Abdulaziz Medical City, Riyadh, National Guard Health Affairs, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, Jeddah, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, Riyadh, and Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz Humanitarian City, Riyadh.  King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital, Riyadh was the first hospital to be recognized in May 2016.

The Stages measure a hospital’s implementation of information technology. HIMSS Analytics surveys over 8,000 hospitals to evaluate them against an Eight-Stage Scale ranging from Stage 0 to Stage 7,  where Stage – 7 represents an advanced patient record environment with clinical business intelligence tools that allow hospitals quality improvement.   

Commenting on this occasion, Jeremy Bonfini, Executive Vice President of HIMSS International said, “Hospitals in Saudi Arabia are moving fast to adopt Healthcare IT based on the international best practice as such our reviewers in KSA undertake rigorous evaluation for more hospitals to qualify them for the elite group of Stage 6 & 7.”

2030 eHealth and Beyond Conference & Exhibition registration is now open. For more information, please visit: www.himssmeconference.org.