The Department of Health- Abu Dhabi (DoH), the regulator of the healthcare sector in the emirate, is organising the second edition of the Abu Dhabi Healthcare Quality Summit, which will take place virtually on the 4th and 5th of November 2021. The summit will gather more than 3,000 speakers and experts from around the world and enable a platform to share views, exchange knowledge and network, as well as engage all its key players across a broad range of sessions and keynote lectures.
The summit is organised by DoH in partnership with the British Medical Journal (BMJ), one of the world’s oldest and prestigious general medical journals known for its pioneering expertise in organizing international conferences and events related to healthcare quality and innovation. The summit is a multi-disciplinary journey that focuses on exploring the key issues and latest advances in the areas of healthcare quality improvement, value-based quality care, healthcare professionals’ wellbeing and patients’ engagement, and innovation and digital transformation in healthcare.
This year the summit will focus on the role of quality in shaping the future of the healthcare sector and the patient experience. World renowned experts in quality will be speaking at the summit alongside international experts from around the world including the USA, the UK, Australia and the UAE. These speakers will present their quality improvement initiatives, experience, views and recommendations on improving quality and transforming healthcare, with a specific focus on the role of data, life sciences and digital transformation. They will also discuss the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on managing and improving the quality of healthcare around the world.
Hind Al Zaabi Executive Director of Healthcare Facilities Sector at DoH said: “The Abu Dhabi Healthcare Quality Summit will be launched in Abu Dhabi, under the theme “The Future is Here.” It seeks to explore the possibilities of the future in the healthcare sector and establish a global platform for healthcare pioneers and experts from around the world to share knowledge, showcase their experiences in improving the quality of healthcare services and find areas of collaboration. That, in addition to discussing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and digital transformation and innovation in accelerating efforts to raise quality levels in healthcare and harnessing them to improve the patient's experience.”
During the summit, DoH looks forward to showcasing Abu Dhabi's continued efforts in improving healthcare services and highlighting the emirate’s distinguished experience in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. That, in addition to highlighting the role of scientific research, innovation, and digital transformation in improving the quality of healthcare outputs – which have further cemented Abu Dhabi's position as an innovation hub in healthcare and a leading destination for medical tourism.
DoH has recently launched ‘Muashir’ – Abu Dhabi Healthcare Quality Index, which classifies distinguished healthcare facilities to the community according to the Diamonds Rating System. ‘Muashir’ is a first-of-its-kind programme in the region and a unique, comprehensive and reliable quality framework that came as an evolvement of the “Jawda” programme, which was first launched in 2014 to measure the quality of healthcare services given by healthcare facilities to the emirate’s community. ‘Muashir’ focuses on nine key pillars including clinical treatment and legislative control outputs, patient happiness, addressing feedback from patients, quality assurance certificates, medical staff happiness and employees within the health facility, correct claims procedures, workplace safety, and research and innovation.
Malaffi, the region’s first Health Information Exchange (HIE) platform, is one of the strategic initiatives launched by DoH in 2019 as part of Abu Dhabi’s remarkable efforts in digital transformation. It aims to enhance patients’ experience and improve healthcare quality and patient outcomes in Abu Dhabi by allowing the exchange of critical health information for patients between healthcare providers and creating a centralised database of unified patient records.
Additionally, DoH recently announced the first-of-its-kind project in the MENA region, which intends to license and use advanced drones to distribute and transfer medical supplies within the healthcare sector in the emirate. It aligns with the year of preparation for the “UAE Projects of the 50”, the UAE’s Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), and border strategies to establish Abu Dhabi's leading position on the global innovation map and develop healthcare services in the emirate.
