DHA to Update Electronic Patient Medical Records

Dubai: Dubai Health Authority’s Electronic Medical Record System known as Salama will be updated by the first quarter of 2020.

The updates will ensure that patients visiting DHA hospitals have access to enhanced features on the MyChart app.

Some of the new features that will be added include video chat with the doctor, ask your doctor platform, Uber and Careem options might be included, self-registration is known as On My Way, which helps patients register using the app prior to the appointment, eCheck-in. The app also has features such as to request prescription, refill medication request and Hello Patient, which detects when a patient arrives for an appointment using geolocation and automatically signs or check them in. This feature is highly convenient, as it will reduce patients’ wait times on the day of their appointment.

The MyChart app currently provides several features such as digital access to appointment information, patient history, prescriptions, lab results, in-patient visits etc. Users can book their appointment and receive an e-token, which helps in reducing wait times. They can have access to their children’s vaccination records. The app also has a feature that links family member accounts.

By the end of the year, it is expected that all DHA entities including hospitals and health centres using the Salama electronic medical record platform will reduce the consumption of paper by 50 per cent.

The electronic integration was a two-year project that was completed in the end of 2017. The DHA migrated 1.4 million patient records onto the new Salama system.

Salama integrates with 30 of DHA’s core clinical systems in total, ranging from major clinical systems such as Radiology and Lab, Dubai Ambulance, and extends to non-clinical systems.

The system is also used for Sepsis management. DHA developed a protocol using Predictive Analytics to detect and pre-empt sepsis early to prevent deaths arising due to this condition.

The protocol is the first-of-its-kind in the MENA region and the system has been live since Dec 2018   across all DHA hospitals.

The Predictive Module is incorporated with the Salama system to predict Sepsis using Modified Early Warning Scores (Mews) and Laboratory testing to save lives.

Salama is not just an electronic patient record portal. It is the foundation for several upcoming initiatives such as telemedicine and AI, which is in line with the goals of Article five of the 50-Year Charter issued by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.  Additionally, the information received through Salama will help in disease-prevention, lifestyle modification and developing world-class evidence-based health policies.

The patient medical record platform is available across all DHA hospitals; primary healthcare centres speciality centres and medical fitness centres.