The Supreme Council of Information and Communication Technology (ictQatar) is closely working with the major players in the health sector to synchronise e-health systems in Qatar to support to government’s continuing drive for healthcare reform. “The ultimate benefit achieved from a national e-health strategy is a safer and more sustainable health system that is equipped to better respond to the emerging health sector’s pressures and demands,” Dr Yasir Khan, ictQatar’s Clinical Advisor for the e-health programme. Dr Khan underscored this before participants of Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Middle East Conference in Bahrain recently during his keynote address. In his talk, Dr Khan described a two-tiered approach to enhancing the e-healthcare system that will be more responsive to fostering well-being by providing medical care to the ever growing population of Qatar. As a first tier, ictQatar is concentrating on putting a robust infrastructure in place. A government-owned dedicated network is currently being developed as a back bone to provide interoperability not only between various healthcare providers, but key government institutions “This network will be capable of serving bandwidth-intensive applications such as a national shared imaging repository. It will provide necessary connectivity to remote clinical sites including telemedicine applications. Clinics and primary healthcare centres will also benefit from being linked to a centralised patient record,” said Dr Khan. The second tier of ictQatar’s approach centres on e-health applications and systems. The national electronic health record (EHR) is being conceived as a hub to share information on patient records across healthcare institutions from a central point. When completed and delivered, this national EHR network will completely revolutionise the way healthcare services can be delivered, giving the clinician the right information at the right time. Often, it is not only the accuracy of the diagnosis, but prompt evaluation of a medical condition as well that determines how soon a patient can receive effective treatment. http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=Local_News&subsection=Qatar+News&month=June2009&file=Local_News2009060963612.xml

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