UAE’s smart healthcare a robust model

For a nation to be happy, it has to be smart. And the UAE knows this best. The digital transformation of most aspects of life in the country sends an amazingly positive feeling — more so when it concerns health and medical advancement.

The launching of a child-friendly robotic service by the Ministry of Health and Prevention (MOHAP) at Dibba Hospital is one example. The service will certainly ensure the happiness of sick children and help them overcome the fear of visiting hospitals.

The kid-friendly robot, which can be remotely or self-directed, will transport children from the hospital’s entrances to the pediatric clinic in a bid to reduce the psychological burden and grant them a sense of reassurance when visiting the hospital to receive treatment and healthcare services.

The ministry’s keenness to harness all resources and potential to develop such innovative solutions is showing hugely positive results.

Last month,  MoHAP had launched an online portal for visiting medical consultants, with the aim of assisting consultants by providing access to patient information, hospital departments, and other critical information needed to treat patients.

The portal was launched as part of the government excellence system, as well as the smart government initiative to comply with the UAE National Agenda.

The Ministry of Health and Prevention last year launched the Robotic Surgeries Programme in Gynaecology and Obstetrics. That achievement, considered the first-of-its-kind across the UAE, came within the context of MoHAP’s integrated programme to consolidate the success of robotic surgeries in the country, and also as part of the ministry’s stated keenness to promote the culture of innovation and fostering the use of Artificial Intelligence as a scientific approach in health services.

As Dr Zaki Al Muzaki, Head of Chest and Vascular Surgery and Robot Surgery Program at MoHAP, mentioned, the ministry took precedence in bringing the latest robots due to its capability of accessing the most difficult parts in the human body, besides its high accuracy because of the robotic arm firmness during the surgery.

The use of robots reduces doctors’ stress and also reduces patients’ pain following the surgery. Currently, robots are used in heart, sleeve gastrectomy, and urology surgeries.

The Sheikh Khalifa Medical City, SKMC, developed its technological systems to accelerate its pharmaceutical services to patients, by launching the first smart pharmacy in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.

SKMC Smart Pharmacy, the largest pharmacy in the emirate, accelerates patients’ drug dispensation processes, ensuring drug safety and efficiency via artificial intelligence, AI, technologies. It relies on a smart robot to prepare, dispense and control medicines.

Such automated dispensing of medicines gives pharmacists more time to engage with a greater volume of patients, reducing the risks of errors and enhancing healthcare outcomes.

A pioneering robot-assisted knee surgery was carried out at a UAE government hospital for the first time recently when the procedure was carried out successfully on a 61-year-old Emirati father at the SKMC.

In what should make every citizen and resident proud, the UAE has been ranked first globally on the availability of quality healthcare in the 2018 World Poll, which tracks the opinions of people in more than 160 countries on what matters most to them.

The use of artificial intelligence and other smart technologies in health care will undoubtedly redefine the industry and enhance health outcomes. The eventual beneficiaries are the patients.