Philips, a specialist in health technology, and du, from Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (EITC), have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to collaboratively accelerate the critical, data-driven transformation of healthcare in the UAE in support of the Dubai Health Strategy 2021
This partnership will focus collective efforts on realising value-based care by improving patient and healthcare professionals’ experiences, delivering better health outcomes, at a lower cost of care across the healthcare continuum.
“Bringing people and businesses together to unlock economic and social transformation has always been at the heart of our operations,” said Farid Faraidooni, chief new business and innovation office, du. “Although the pandemic undoubtedly altered this laser- focused approach temporarily, with business continuity and seamless connectivity for all our topmost priorities, recent events have also accelerated the pace of momentum to realise the digital transformation required to help people take better care of their health at every stage of life. As a leading national organisation, we are proud to contribute to efforts in this direction and look forward to working with our partners at Philips to achieve our shared objectives in due course.”
Crucially, the potential and power of virtualised healthcare extends well beyond COVID-19. For example, the swift and sustained growth of imaging services beyond the hospital, has lead to the rise of the tele-ICU or eICU, where off-site healthcare professionals are able to interact and engage with bedside staff about patient care and exchange information in real-time.
In due course, the infrastructure provided by du and paired with Philips’ technological advancements will provide predictive analytics, data visualisation and reporting capabilities to healthcare workers. This winning combination will enable the local health system to access critical patient information, make split-second life-saving decisions, and prevent patient deterioration in general ward settings through early warning scores.
“We have seen some inspiring success stories with our Philips eICU programme in delivering value-based care; healthcare professionals have been able to save lives and reduce mortality rates while improving the quality and efficiency of healthcare services - reducing the cost of care and the length of patient hospital stays,” said Vincenzo Ventricelli, CEO for Philips Middle East, Turkey and Africa.
“Our purpose to improve people’s health and well-being through meaningful innovation is at the heart of everything we do. We recognise that ICT and Telecommunication in healthcare allows for faster transmission of information, as well as digitisation of complex data, which will accelerate efficient interaction between healthcare professionals and patients. Moreover, technology-enabled care can benefit healthcare professionals and empower them to deliver quality care from anywhere in the world.”
The vision of national leadership captured in the Dubai Health Strategy 2021, coupled with partnerships like that of du and Philips and substantial investments in artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain and related technologies, have all facilitated the rapid pace of development and the transformation of healthcare in the UAE.
Going forward, the virtualisation of healthcare and more widespread adoption of telehealth will play an increasing role in helping people to live healthily and cope with disease, enabling care providers to meet people’s health needs, improve productivity, and ultimately deliver better outcomes.
