Saudi Gazette RIYADH — Five public hospitals were recognized for achieving stage six in using technology in healthcare and it public attention due to its closeness with the highest level — which is stage 7. "It is reinforcing a message of the significance of adoption of technology to enhance the patient care and outcomes," said H. Stephen Lieber, CAE president and CEO of Himss organization (transforming health through IT), which organized the event entitled "e-Health and Beyond". The event was held under the aegis of Deputy Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman, second deputy premier and minister of defense, and hosted by The Medical Services Department of the Ministry of Defense at Four Seasons here. Several panel discussions and presentations were held and an exhibition for the latest healthcare IT services provided by public hospitals especially the military and armed forces hospitals was also showcased. Saudi Gazette spoke to Lieber, who commended the rise in the technological ratings. King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital is ranked at stage 7 (the highest) while 4 more hospitals have been recognized as in stage 6: Security Forces Hospital in Dammam; Sultan Bin Abdulaziz Humanitarian City; King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz University Hospital and King Abdullah Medical Complex in Jeddah. "There are seven stages, starting from zero in which there is absence of fundamental technologies. It does not have the basic systems of pharmacy, laboratory, and radiology. If you are not capturing data electronically in those three places, it means you really have not started yet. Because that is where most of the transactions between patient and clinicians occur," he said. "Above that, the first couple of stages are more around operational efficiency, better capture of data, the creation of daily repository... the middle stages 4 and five are more about detail documentation including: clinical decimation, physician documentation, nursing documentation while stages 6 and 7 are where you are getting to a virtually paperless environment. And so you have very significant clinical decisions support tools that are electronic. You put information in and suggestions come out from the clinical decision support tools that tell the clinician about: have you checked on those, what about this... etc. based on what you said so far. Very highly sophisticated and considered the start of personalized medicine. Stage 7 is absolute electronic environment," he added. He stressed that by simply having a full patient record at the clinician side when they see the patient will help ensure that the right treatment is developed because you have the full picture of the patient instead of maybe just what the patient remembers to tell them. "Specially patients with chronic diseases, they might have multiple medications that they do not remember to tell. That will make a huge difference in terms of the decisions the clinician makes and make sure that there are no issues between a new medication that might be prescribed and the one the patient is already taking. So it means that in the first encounter, you care beyond that in terms of ongoing care. On top of that you can avoid unnecessary tests, duplication, because the information is right there. Right information about the right patient at the right time that is what we are planning to accomplish. "Moreover, the record is readable and can be acted upon in multiple settings. Because as patients, we do not go to just one, you go to a doctor, clinic, pharmacy, and specialists, sometimes you are admitted to a hospital that record is going to move around with you. Gaps develop and this is really where patient safety really gets compromised," he commented. People in Saudi Arabia have started to understand the value of information technology in so they were excellently trained clinicians, good facilities but it was not all tied together and this is the job of information technology and information management. "The Kingdom is able to adopt and distribute good information technology. The Kingdom has irrepressible commitment. I am very impressed and encouraged by that commitment to a very high-level, a world-standard level of healthcare supported by technology. Saudi Arabia is in a very good path," he said. "It is going to ensure that there is higher level of quality care at the local community level. It is a plan that is supported by a very significant investment and academic institutions in building expertise. It is one thing to adopt technology but you also have to build the workforce, you need to train people to develop that culture of quality the culture of patient centric care. I see a comprehensive effort here around several different components of building academic medical environment, building infrastructure throughout the Kingdom. These important components which will result in, I believe, very sustainable healthcare and an approach that is not as dependent on expatriates and others," he added. For the Ministry of Defense and other organization involved in healthcare, we did a program entitled "CP Himss" certified professional health information specialists that is designed to equip mid-level executives, directors and managers with the knowledge and skill set in order to understand how to identify, adopt, and implement new technology in the most effective way.
