His Excellency the Minister of Health, Dr. Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al-Rabeeah, has underscored the importance of quality programs, patient safety and medicines, and making every effort to gain the patients' satisfaction, thus upholding the MOH slogan: “Patient First”, which culminates the values and principles the Ministry embraces, taking them as a course of action, along with transparency, honesty, and credibility.
Dr. Al-Rabeeah made this announcement during the sixth meeting of the Executive Board, recently held at the MOH Headquarter under his chairmanship. The Board has touched upon a number of topics, and approved the improvement of the emergency, to be launched as a national program under the MOH's umbrella. The Vice Minister for Health Affairs and the Vice Minister for Planning and Development, it has been agreed, will determine the procedural details of the project, while, in the mean time, stressing the importance of cooperation and coordination among all departments, in an endeavor to improve and develop the services provided by the emergency section at all hospitals. It is of crucial importance, also, to include paramedics and workers of the emergency sections in the training program, and put the program into action as soon as possible, given the urgent need for it, in addition to supporting it with all the necessary potentials and capabilities, and setting a precise time plan.
The meeting included, besides, a presentation on the Pacs Application; it is an integrated computer system which saves, distributes, and previews medical images (such as radiological images, etc.). The system makes good use of the information revolution, and the connecting interfaces with which digital medical devices are supported. They enable users to capture and preview images. It is, furthermore, an informational system connected to and integrated with other informational systems, such as Hospitals Information System (HIS) and Radiology Information System (RIS).
Mehanwhile, Dr. Al-Rabeeah underscored developing a clear-cut mechanism and procedures for cooperation between physicians and peripheral hospitals, taking into account to include primary healthcare centers in the plan of the project. Important among steps to be taken, also, is the close coordination with the Communication and Information Technology Commission (CITC) to provide the necessary technical support for the health construction in peripheral regions. The Board has approved embarking on the implementation gradually, and discussing the scientific committee with the Radiology and Application Services General Department to benefit from its recommendations.
Another presentation on the E-Library (phase 1) was previewed. Thanks were extended to participants in the project, and it was agreed that it is so promising and important for all society segments that it should receive adequate media coverage to raise people's awareness of it. It is equally important to develop a method to calculate study hours in this service, meanwhile affirming that the prescribing of medicines will be concordant with the MOH Drug Formulary. The Board has approved the project, as well as the proposed budget.
The E-Library Project, it should be noted, comes within the framework of the Ministry's colossal efforts to provide high-quality health services, relying upon its strategy implicating the creating of a health e-library. The plan developed by the Ministry stipulates providing and making available of the knowledge resources projected to enhance the evidence-based medical practice. This includes databases of drugs and their reactions, in a way that achieves patient safety and avoiding medical errors. It will also enable health practitioners to get access to e-training supported with photos and videos through their portable devices. The E-Library users will be able, also, to find the necessary support for their scientific papers published at the world's high-profile scientific magazines, thus providing an environment proper for scientific research and continuing development; given the fact that the library will include scientific studies covering all medical, technical and administrative areas.