Abu Dhabi’s Digital Transformation in Healthcare to be Showcased at the HIMSS22 Global Conference in Orlando

14 Mar, 2022:

The Department of Health – Abu Dhabi (DOH) and Malaffi, the region’s first Health Information Exchange (HIE) and a strategic initiative of DOH, today announced their participation at the upcoming HIMSS22 Global Conference and Exhibition, in Orlando, USA. DOH and Malaffi have been selected for the second consecutive year to present at the annual conference, from 14th-18th March 2022, under the theme “Reimagine Health”.

The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, Inc. (HIMSS) is a global advisor, thought leader and member association committed to transforming the health ecosystem. The event brings together world-renowned healthcare and innovation thought leaders to explore issues and challenges within the healthcare sphere.

Dr. Hamed Al Hashemi, Advisor to the Chairman of the Department of Health – Abu Dhabi and Atif Al Braiki, Chief Executive Officer of Abu Dhabi Health Data Services (Malaffi), will deliver an education session titled “Re-imagining Healthcare: Abu Dhabi’s Digital Transformation” on 15th March. As part of the Digital Health Transformation Leadership track, the presentation will address Abu Dhabi’s 10-year digital strategy to transform the healthcare sector and reflect on Malaffi’s pivotal role in building a world-leading cohesive and integrated healthcare ecosystem. This session is endorsed by the HIMSS CIO Experience, which allows global digital health leaders to connect and build relationships that drive meaningful change and support the digital transformation of healthcare, to provide patients with the best healthcare services in line with the best standards of quality.

Dr. Hamed Al Hashemi said, “By utilising digital health, our eyes are set on the future of the healthcare sector and on improving the quality of healthcare services and patients’ experience. HIMSS22 is a prestigious platform to showcase the acceleration of the digital transformation of the healthcare sector in Abu Dhabi at an international level. It is an opportunity to present our digital health strategy based on a patient-centric approach and our efforts to provide the best insights-driven and innovative based system to deliver state-of-the-art preventive, pervasive, and personalized medicine to all patients in and outside the emirate. Our main objective is to enhance the wellbeing of Abu Dhabi residents through prevention and access to integrated, innovative, high-quality and highly efficient healthcare.”

Atif Al Braiki, who has been selected a HIMSS Future 50 Leader in 2021 and recently presented a HIMSS Changemaker in Health Award, said: “After the successful participation last year, we are honoured to be selected to again share our experience and achievements at one of the leading and most influential healthcare technology events globally. Events such as HIMSS22 provide us with a platform to connect and collaborate with the best-in-class, leading healthcare professionals who are passionate to innovate, transform and reimagine healthcare.”

On 16th March, Dr. Sanji de Sylva, Director of Clinical Adoption and Informatics at Malaffi, together with Atif Al Braiki will speak about the importance of clinical data standardization as part of the Health Information Exchange/Interoperability Track. Having access to the collated patient data has allowed Malaffi’s team to develop a unique tool that analyses and identifies gaps in the use of data standards when Abu Dhabi healthcare providers are recording patient information. Based on the insights, in November 2021, the DOH has issued guidance to the sector to adopt specific data standards that will improve interoperability, data quality and consequently the clinical value and accuracy of population health insights to improve patient outcomes. The tool will allow for the continual monitoring of the progress made by the standards implementation. 

On 14th March, Atif Al Braiki will join several industry leaders at the HIMSS22 Executive Summit panel discussion titled “Future of Healthcare: What’s Next and How do We Get There?”.
Malaffi recently announced that the platform connects all the public and private hospitals across Abu Dhabi. This is an important milestone towards allowing healthcare providers to safely exchange important patient health information in real-time, creating a centralised database of unified patient records. In addition to all 60 hospitals, 1,208 clinics and medical centres and 758 pharmacies are now connected to the platform. Over 45,800 doctors, nurses and other members of staff from the 2,026 healthcare facilities across Abu Dhabi have secure access to Malaffi and are enabled to make better-informed and more efficient decisions.