DUBAI: Saudi Arabia unveiled the largest healthcare technology project of-its-kind in the GCC at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) conference which began in Dubai Sunday. The five-year project is aimed at transforming the healthcare delivery in Saudi Arabia, Dr Mohammed R. Alyemeni, adviser to the Minister of Health & general supervisor of ICT. He elaborates on the Kingdom's plan to digitally integrate over 300 Saudi hospitals during his speech at the three-day event. Saudi Arabia's eHealth / ICT vision encompasses not only the interoperable electronic health records (EHR) which are the foundational systems that many nations are pursuing, but includes essential elements addressing quality of care, cost containment, and health system management and research needs, he said. “Our ambitious plans will build on the pioneering eHealth advancements from many developed countries, and enable the Kingdom to provide a new generation of health care services to meet the accelerating expectations of its residents,” said Dr Alyemeni. “Key to our success is to understand where other nations have failed and how we can avoid these costly errors,” he added. The HIMSS is a comprehensive healthcare-stakeholder membership organization exclusively focused on providing global leadership for the optimal use of information technology (IT) and management systems for the betterment of healthcare system. Founded in 1961 with offices in Chicago, Washington D.C., Brussels, Singapore, and other locations across the US, HIMSS represents more than 23,000 individual members, of which 73 percent work in patient care delivery settings, the compnay said in a statement.
