How Technology is Empowering Healthcare
Adopting innovative technologies all in an effort to provide quality healthcare and lower IT
management costs. CNME?s Manda Banda finds out how technology is empowering hospitals in
the region.
It’s one thing for an IT vendor and its reseller partners to access the IT challenges that clients in
the healthcare services face. It?s quite another to walk in the shoes of doctors and nurses and
feel their pain points firsthand.
But that’s what Nortel and its regional channel partner Baud Telecom and PACC Mideast Data
Systems did recently when they deployed healthcare solutions built on a foundation of Unified
Communications ready technology at Sharjah Teaching Hospital and King Fahad Medical City,
one of the largest healthcare providers in the Middle East.
The implementations demonstrate the determination healthcare providers in the region have in
advancing innovation through technology in the Gulf region.
The deployment at the new Sharjah Teaching Hospital in the UAE has been implemented with
an advanced, clinical-grade healthcare communications solution built on a foundation of Nortel
Unified Communications-ready technology.
The King Fahad Medical City deployment has also been built around Nortel?s Unified
Communications and will enhance health care and help in managing costs for the group?s four
hospitals, 269 primary clinics and more than 650,000 patients annually.
The solution integrates IP Telephony, enhanced call answering, contact centre and interactive
voice response (IVR) capabilities with legacy voice systems to promptly connect patients with
the right clinicians for responsive, personalised care.
In addition to connecting patients with the right clinicians, it also provides King Fahad Medical
City, known for its technical innovation and early adoption of advanced medical technologies,
with a foundation for future communications-enabled e-health applications and services.
By utilising and adopting innovative technology to improve patient care and reduce costs, we
constantly strive for better and more effective ways to serve our patients,? says Jumah F. Al
Anazi, associate executive director, patient affairs at King Fahad Medical City. ?Nortel has
empowered us to provide each patient with even greater attention and care than before ? so
much so that we are widely sought for telephony consulting by the Ministry of Health hospitals,
clinics and patients throughout Saudi Arabia.?
As more and more hospitals both in private and public sectors are recognising the vital role
technology is playing in the provision of healthcare services, it has become imperative that
healthcare providers in the region stay abreast with the latest innovative technologies.
More and more healthcare providers are recognising the need for technology to enhance
patient care and operational efficiency,? says Ramin Attari, VP and MD at Nortel Middle East.
?King Fahad Medical City has evolutionised the medical sector with help from Nortel
communications solutions for safe, timely and patient-centric care.?
Technology at work
The Nortel healthcare solution for King Fahad Medical City includes Nortel Communication
Server 1000, which provides IP and legacy telephony services for more than 5,000 extensions. It
also includes Nortel?s Contact Centre with skills-based routing and management reporting
capabilities and Nortel Media Processing Server 500 with automated routing and multi-language
speech capabilities for a more efficient and personalised customer experience.
For the new Sharjah Teaching Hospital, which begins accepting patients in 2009, the solution,
has been built on a foundation of Nortel Unified Communications-ready technology and will give
physicians rapid access when and where they need it to critical diagnostic information from
MRIs, CAT scans, ultrasounds and mammograms.
The technology will also help administrators manage hospital and patient costs with responsive,
reliable access to business and clinical information.
In addition, the healthcare communications solution for this 210-bed facility hospital will
provide a staff of 700 health professionals with both high bandwidth and mobile access to
clinical information management systems and diagnostic quality images.
The Sharjah implementation
The Sharjah Teaching Hospital has been implemented under the guidance of His Highness, Dr
Shaikh Sultan Bin Mohammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah.
The objective of the hospital is to provide world-class training facilities for the next generation
of health professionals while providing excellent healthcare to the Sharjah community.
Philip Robinson, CIO, Sharjah Teaching Hospital, says the Nortel technology will allow the
hospital to deliver high quality patient care through faster, more efficient access to information,
allowing doctors to be more responsive to patients? clinical needs through better access to
laboratory results and diagnostic images.
Nortel healthcare solutions deliver the advanced unified communications, services and clinical
applications to help hospitals deliver safe, timely and patient-centric care,? says Ramin Attari,
VP and MD at Nortel Middle East. ?Our solution plays a central role in delivering top quality
medical services by empowering staff with communications-enabled clinical support in a highlyresponsive and trusted environment.?
In addition to being a place where patients can expect high-quality care, Sharjah Teaching
Hospital will also be a major teaching resource for medical, dental and pharmacy colleges at the
University of Sharjah.
The Nortel healthcare communications solution will provide students with secure access to
clinical notes, schedules and health information from anywhere on campus, allowing them to
study and to participate in various learning experiences regardless of location.
Energy efficiency
With more IT vendors pushing for green computing and energy serving technology solutions,
Nortel does not want to be left behind in this regard. The company has implemented energyefficient wired and wireless data networking which will also help Sharjah Teaching Hospital
manage costs and reduce environmental impact. The solution delivered to Sharjah Teaching
Hospital includes Nortel Ethernet Routing Switch 8300 Series and Ethernet Routing Switch 4500
Series gear for fully redundant 10 gigabit Ethernet to the desktop for all users. The solution also
includes Nortel Communication Server 1000 for VoIP and unified messaging, Nortel WLAN 2300
Series switching and access points for mobile voice and data capability and Nortel WLAN
Handset 6140 for roaming communications between nursing staff and other health
professionals.
The Dubai Government’s initiative
Aside from green computing and energy saving technologies that are being pioneered,
governments in the Middle East are not only implementing the latest and advanced
technologies in the region but are also equipping medical staff with basic IT and computer skills.
One such landmark has become a reality following the Dubai Government?s Department of
Health and Medical Services (DOHMS), the government authority managing Dubai?s healthcare
sector, that recently signed an IT literacy agreement covering its employees with the ICDL GCC
Foundation, the governing body and certification authority of the International Computer
Driving License (ICDL) program in the Gulf region.
The initiative comes at a time when health care providers in the Middle East are making huge
strides with technology innovation advances. The project should have an immediate positive
impact on DOHMS employees.In terms of the agreement, ICDL GCC will recognise DOHMS as an
internally accredited centre for ICDL training. The landmark accord was signed by H.E. Khalid
Ahmed Al Sheikh Mubarak, assistant general director for Administrative and Financial Affairs,
DOHMS; and Jamil Ezzo, director general, ICDL GCC Foundation.
H.E. Al Sheikh Mubarak emphasises the significance of the agreement and goes on to say that
the DOHMS remains committed to sustaining measures it initiated in 2005 and as per the
directions of H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, VP and Prime Minister of UAE and
Ruler of Dubai to qualify and train administrative and medical personnel on basic ICT skills. He
adds that the initiative will enhance healthcare quality by efficiently automating medical
information, which in turn will improve patient monitoring and treatment.
Following the directives of our officials, we have been closely following and updating ourselves
on global medical developments and adopting international technologies to better serve our
patients. The signing of this agreement will help DOHMS to efficiently integrate IT elements into
its programs to meet various Department needs while expanding the technology proficiency of
our staff in different areas,? says Mubarak.
Mubarak explains that the agreement reflects his Department?s intention to developing its staff
particularly in computer skills so as to minimise time and effort. This would streamline the work
process and thus allow the provision of healthcare and medical treatment to more patients.
Our partnership with DOHMS forms part of our efforts to enhance IT proficiency and economic
activity in the healthcare sector throughout the Gulf. Besides enhancing healthcare capabilities,
the IT skills provided by the ICDL GCC Foundation will expand the job opportunities of
healthcare workers and allow them to meet various organisational needs aside from boosting
overall productivity,? Ezzo adds.
Ezzo says the digital information is highly welcomed in the Gulf?s healthcare sector, as
evidenced by the adoption of ICDL programs within various health ministries and medical
institutions throughout the region. The ICDL GCC official explains that the ICDL study curriculum
comprises seven classes which cover computer essentials and basic applications. He adds that
the Foundation recently included a new class dedicated to the medical sector which teaches
best practices, techniques and services related to the use of IT in medical information
management and in healthcare services in general. The class can be customised to fit diverse
work environments supported by medical organisations across the Gulf.
EBH Cerner Millennium PathNet implementation
In keeping up with the pace of technology innovation that has engulfed the Middle East?s
healthcare sector, Dr. Erfan-Bagedo General Hospital (EBH) in Saudi Arabia recently
implemented the Cerner Millennium PathNet solution, as part of its broader strategy to
automate the managerial and operational aspects of its laboratory to provide faster, more
accurate lab services for the more than one million patients it serves each year.
Dr. Mohamed Ahmed Erfan, EBH CEO, says as healthcare IT continues to advance, so do
opportunities to provide better, safer care to patients. ?By implementing the Cerner Millennium
PathNet solution at our hospital, we will be able to improve safety and efficiency in the
laboratory,? he says.
EBH will use the Cerner Millennium PathNet solution to streamline specimen management,
track specimens and maintain quality control within the hospital laboratory. The PathNet
solution is connected to the hospital information system, which gives caregivers real-time access
to important laboratory data.
EBH’s commitment to implementing advanced healthcare ITsolutions has helped it become one
of the leading private-sector hospitals in Saudi Arabia,? says Trace Devanny, Cerner president.
We commend the hospital leadership for continuing to advance the standard of care for the
region and for providing world-class care to its patients.?
Tawam Hospital implementation
Not wanting to lag behind as the healthcare sector continues on the evolution path in the
Middle East, Tawam Hospital in Al Ain has also implemented the Cerner Millennium Health IT in
Abu Dhabi. The implementation is the first of its kind in the UAE and will link all SEHA facilities in
Abu Dhabi. This milestone is the first in a series of steps to automate healthcare in Abu Dhabi
and to create a unified electronic medical record (EMR) for hospitals and clinics across the
region.
Tawam Hospital, in affiliation with Johns Hopkins is a 468-bed tertiary care hospital owned and
operated by SEHA, the Abu Dhabi Health Services Company. The Cerner Millennium solution
SEHA owns and operates eight hospital systems, totaling 14 hospitals and more than 55
ambulatory and primary health clinics in the Emirate. In addition to Tawam Hospital, four
hospitals and 12 clinics throughout the Emirate of Abu Dhabi will implement Cerner Millennium
solutions during 2008/2009 timeframe.
The implementation of the Cerner Millennium solutions throughout will transform the way
healthcare is provided in Abu Dhabi, to match the latest international standards,? says John R.
Hawkins, SEHA information and technology director. ?By automating our processes with the
Cerner Millennium system, our clinicians are able to access a single patient record for Tawam
Hospital, and soon, for all SEHA hospitals and clinics in Abu Dhabi.?
SEHA has committed to implementing a system-wide EMR for all of its hospitals and clinics as
part of its vision to create a connected healthcare system and to improve the quality of care in
Abu Dhabi. SEHA chose Cerner as its HIT supplier because of Cerner?s ability to support big scale
implementations. Cerner is committed to helping visionary healthcare systems in the Middle
East, like SEHA, implement technology that creates a better experience for their patients,? says
Trace Devanny, Cerner President. ?As a result of working together with SEHA, we were able to
successfully deliver multiple Cerner Millennium solutions within a very large and complex
system.?
The Cerner Millennium solutions implemented at Tawam Hospital automate processes in the
radiology, pathology, pharmacy, surgery, emergency, and scheduling and registration
departments. Clinicians at Tawam Hospital are using the Cerner Millennium healthcare
computing platform to document care and submit orders in the EMR. The hospital also is
implementing Cerner solutions to create a closed-loop medication administration process,
which helps avoid harmful medication errors and improve patient safety.
Source: http://computernewsme.com/case-studies/case-studies/how-technology-isempowering-healthcare-provision.html