Sharjah24: The Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHAP) has announced the launch of the ‘Riayati' platform, the national unified medical record, in partnership with the Department of Health Abu Dhabi, Emirates Health Services (EHS), and Dubai Health Authority (DHA).

The partnership is a significant milestone for Riayati, as it will be linked to Emirates Health Services' Electronic Medical Record in Dubai and Northern Emirates "Wareed", and Dubai Health Authority's health information network "Nabidh".

The move would help enhance the strategic significance of MoHAP's national unified medical record in promoting the integration of digital health in the UAE's health sector, where EHS, DHA, and medical service providers in the private sector have been playing a pivotal role in this process.

'Riayati' was launched under the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

Digital transformation

"The launch of the central system "Riayati" comes in line with the UAE's strategic directions in the development of the health sector, which would help improve disease monitoring and management of population health," said HE Abdul Rahman bin Muhammad Al Owais, Minister of Health and Prevention. 

The second phase will be seeing the cooperation with the Department of Health Abu Dhabi after partnering with EHS and DHA in the first one, Al Owais noted, underlining that the accession of more private sector partners to the platform reflects its importance in the process of digital transformation in the health sector.

"We are striving to provide a world-class healthcare system while laying the essential foundations for its success, including a unified E-healthcare system, according to the directives and forward-looking vision of the wise leadership," said HE Abdullah bin Mohammed Al Hamed, Chairman of DoH.

"By drawing on the sophisticated infrastructure, -high-caliber staff, as well as utilizing innovation and digital transformation, efforts will be united to provide unified E-healthcare system to link medical service providers throughout the country, thus optimizing the patient experience, improving therapeutic services, and enhancing the UAE status in the global health arena," he added.

Central system 

His Excellency Dr. Mohammed Salim Al Olama, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Health, said that providing world-class healthcare services is a top priority for MoHAP in line with the vision of the UAE government, pointing out that the 'Riayati' platform is part of the ministry's ongoing efforts to keep pace with the transformation in the health information systems and to reinforce the leadership of the UAE in embracing technology and creativity.

Al Olama noted the newly launched platform is a significant step forward towards creating an integrated medical record for every patient in the UAE.

Larger database

"Being a part of 'Riayati' is an important step for the DHA towards connecting to a larger database of healthcare information and knowledge base. This would help improve our ability to serve patients according to the highest standards of efficiency, care, and patient safety," said HE Awad Saghir Al Ketbi, Director-General, DHA.

Al Ketbi stressed that linking up with 'Riayati' will create more value for 'Nabidh', which will ultimately benefit the healthcare landscape in the UAE.

It's noteworthy that the Nabidh Platform comes as part of the DHA's commitment to moving towards the digital transformation in its healthcare services.

And as part of the second phase, the ministry of health has coordinated with the Department of Health – Abu Dhabi (DoH) to exchange data and information between the 'Riayati' platform and the 'Malaffi' platform, MENA's first health information exchange platform, and one of the world's fastest-growing healthcare exchange information systems, with 100% of Abu Dhabi-based Hospitals connected to the platform in less than three years.

A new start

"Thanks to the directives and unwavering support of the wise leadership, the Emirate of Abu Dhabi continues to strengthen its position as a global model to be emulated in terms of leveraging technology and leading the digital transformation to maintain the health of everyone, and improve the quality of health sector in the emirate," said HE Jamal Al Kaabi, Undersecretary of the Department of Health – Abu Dhabi.

"Connecting all Abu Dhabi-based hospitals to the 'Malaffi' platform is regarded as a paradigm shift in the healthcare sector," Al Kaabi stressed. "Today, we are witnessing a new start and important step towards improving our patient experience and enhancing the quality of services, by working together with MoHAP to connect 'Malaffi' to 'Riayati' in order to create a larger patient-centric health information database."

Added value

"Emirates Health Services is a key partner in 'Riayati' system, where "Wareed" system provides the central system with more than 50% of health data in the Northern Emirates through 17 hospitals and over 80 health centers," said HE Yossef Mohamed Al Serkal, Director-General, EHS. "We are proud to be part of such an advanced platform, which will definitely help us deliver the ultimate healthcare experience with a lot of positive outcomes."

Al Serkal noted that the 'Riayati' platform is a comprehensive knowledge system of healthcare in the UAE, which would help promote the quality of health services and proactive analysis of future services.

Ministerial resolution 

'Riayati' is an advanced system for documenting health, personal and administrative information and data for each person receiving health services in his own record. The process is done in a sustainable and secure manner in order to achieve the safety and quality of health care, facilitate the use of such information by health service providers and regulate its exchange in accordance with the legislation in force.

Health service recipients can use the e-portal of the unified health record, when available, while identifying the entities and individuals who can view their medical record. This is in accordance with the ministerial decision issued on November 16, 2021, requiring the health facilities licensed by the Ministry to be included in the unified health record system within a year of its issuance in accordance with the controls and requirements set by the Ministry.