Dubai Health Authority (DHA) has announced plans to update its electronic medical record system, Salama, by the first quarter of 2020. The updates will make sure that patients visiting DHA hospitals have access to upgraded features on the MyChart app. 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, said the DHA in it statement.

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 known as On My Way, which helps patients register using the app prior to the appointment, eCheck-in. It also has some added features such as 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.

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.

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.

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, said the statement.

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.

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.

Additionally, the information received through Salama will help in disease-prevention, lifestyle modification and developing world-class evidence-based health policies.

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.

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

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