ABU DHABI // Abu Dhabi healthcare experts told an international forum yesterday how they had initiated a plan of data collection from patients and clinicians that has enabled the emirate to focus on improving quality of care.
On the first day of the three-day inaugural World Health Care Congress Middle East at the Beach Rotana Hotel in Abu Dhabi yesterday, Dr Philipp Vetter, the head of strategy at the Health Authority-Abu Dhabi (HAAD), announced that the authority had begun routinely collecting data on the quality of care provided to patients, as well as on the clinicians who provided that care.
This data, said Dr Vetter, would provide detailed clinical indicators that would be shared with the UAE's healthcare community for the first time, enabling them to find ways of improving the delivery of health care in the emirate.
Zaid al Siksek, the chief executive of HAAD, said that the most important aspect of the healthcare reform process in Abu Dhabi had been the transparency that came with accessibility to data.
"If we don't have the data or the capability to understand it, it's almost impossible to build and create change," he said.
No answers could be found for questions such as what specialities are needed in the emirate, how many more hospital beds have to be provided, what chronic diseases are affecting the average population, how many doctors need to be hired, and so on, when no data was collected, he said.
With information, however, "we are able to validate spending in specific areas, create new facilities, push for subsidies, talk about pharmaceutical needs, and where we are lacking in research and development," he said. "The ability to have and use that information is a key ingredient to any modern, successful health system out there."
The data will be collected routinely from insurance claims submitted by healthcare providers, while protecting individual patient confidentiality.
The information on these claims will show whether the care provided is appropriate, whether clinical guidelines are being followed, whether the correct tests had been ordered, and whether the results of those tests are indicative of a bigger problem and so on.
Tammie Lawrie, a senior analyst at HAAD, said this was a starting point to track how things had been going so far, until a bigger picture could be drawn.
"This is a way for us to look at the quality of care being delivered and make this information available to providers as a tool for them to improve," she said.
After only 10 months into the initiative, it was too early yet to judge healthcare quality based on the data, said Dr Vetter. However, it would invite the right discussions.
For example, diabetes indicators have shown that only 59 per cent of patients who have diagnosed diabetes have had their HbA1c levels checked in the past 10 months, which is one way to check how well the diabetes is controlled.
Further examination of data has found that women and older patients in particular had more access to health care and had better control of their diabetes than their younger, male counterparts.
After pinpointing those trends, the challenge is to determine why such trends are in place.
Ms Lawrie said the more data collected, the more indicators would be identified.
"With regards to diabetes, we check to see, have patients had a recent lipid profile test? A recent eye function test? If not, why not?"
Dr Vetter said that this routine data collection was a best practice of health care in Abu Dhabi that could be shared on an international forum such as the World Health Care Congress Middle East, where 500 leaders and decision makers in health from more than 20 countries had gathered to discuss innovations in health care.
"We have an obligation to begin using this data that we've collected to improve," said Dr Vetter.
hkhalaf@thenational.ae
The biog
Name: Abeer Al Bah
Born: 1972
Husband: Emirati lawyer Salem Bin Sahoo, since 1992
Children: Soud, born 1993, lawyer; Obaid, born 1994, deceased; four other boys and one girl, three months old
Education: BA in Elementary Education, worked for five years in a Dubai school
LIVING IN...
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At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
Company%20Profile
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Sun jukebox
Rufus Thomas, Bear Cat (The Answer to Hound Dog) (1953)
This rip-off of Leiber/Stoller’s early rock stomper brought a lawsuit against Phillips and necessitated Presley’s premature sale to RCA.
Elvis Presley, Mystery Train (1955)
The B-side of Presley’s final single for Sun bops with a drummer-less groove.
Johnny Cash and the Tennessee Two, Folsom Prison Blues (1955)
Originally recorded for Sun, Cash’s signature tune was performed for inmates of the titular prison 13 years later.
Carl Perkins, Blue Suede Shoes (1956)
Within a month of Sun’s February release Elvis had his version out on RCA.
Roy Orbison, Ooby Dooby (1956)
An essential piece of irreverent juvenilia from Orbison.
Jerry Lee Lewis, Great Balls of Fire (1957)
Lee’s trademark anthem is one of the era’s best-remembered – and best-selling – songs.
Salah in numbers
€39 million: Liverpool agreed a fee, including add-ons, in the region of €39m (nearly Dh176m) to sign Salah from Roma last year. The exchange rate at the time meant that cost the Reds £34.3m - a bargain given his performances since.
13: The 25-year-old player was not a complete stranger to the Premier League when he arrived at Liverpool this summer. However, during his previous stint at Chelsea, he made just 13 Premier League appearances, seven of which were off the bench, and scored only twice.
57: It was in the 57th minute of his Liverpool bow when Salah opened his account for the Reds in the 3-3 draw with Watford back in August. The Egyptian prodded the ball over the line from close range after latching onto Roberto Firmino's attempted lob.
7: Salah's best scoring streak of the season occurred between an FA Cup tie against West Brom on January 27 and a Premier League win over Newcastle on March 3. He scored for seven games running in all competitions and struck twice against Tottenham.
3: This season Salah became the first player in Premier League history to win the player of the month award three times during a term. He was voted as the division's best player in November, February and March.
40: Salah joined Roger Hunt and Ian Rush as the only players in Liverpool's history to have scored 40 times in a single season when he headed home against Bournemouth at Anfield earlier this month.
30: The goal against Bournemouth ensured the Egyptian achieved another milestone in becoming the first African player to score 30 times across one Premier League campaign.
8: As well as his fine form in England, Salah has also scored eight times in the tournament phase of this season's Champions League. Only Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo, with 15 to his credit, has found the net more often in the group stages and knockout rounds of Europe's premier club competition.
