The pavilions of the Ministry of Health (MOH) at the Innovation Exhibit (Ibtikar 2013), organized by King Abdulaziz and his Companions Foundation for Giftedness and Creativity, in its third round, under the theme: “Towards an innovation-based knowledge society”, saw overwhelming admiration from the different segments of the exhibit’s visitors, especially children. This was manifested in the hundreds of the hand-written admiration and gratitude cards that were received from the young and the adult, and they were pasted on the mobile innovation laboratory provided by the King Abdullah Medical City; to scout for the Saudi talents.
In the meantime, Dr. Abdulaziz Al-Humaidi, the Deputy Minister for Therapeutic Services, during his visit to the exhibit yesterday, pointed out that what is provided by the Ministry of Health (MOH) in terms of innovations and creative developmental programs in various pavilions, represented by the headquarters of the Ministry of Health (MOH), King Fahad Medical City (KFMC) in Riyadh, and King Abdullah Medical City (KAMC) in the Holy Capital comes within the MOH’s strategy aiming to advance the health services delivered through embracing the creative ideas, and to cope with the modern era developments. He further spoke about the support and encouragement of His Excellency the Minister of Health, Dr. Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Rabeeah, for innovation and innovators.
He also put emphasis on the importance of the Innovation Exhibit (Ibtikar 2013) for enhancing and encouraging the Saudi innovators and spreading the culture of innovation among the different community segments, as well as the significance of maintaining the sustainability of keeping abreast with the latest developments.
Within the same vein, he expressed his happiness at the positive interaction of all visitors witnessed by the MOH pavilions, especially children who expressed their admiration for the Doctor “Mobtakir” (Innovator) Program, which the King Abdullah Medical City in Makkah has offered. It includes a tent of the innovative children, mobile innovation laboratory, and other events. He also lauded the idea of all the events presented by the Program, which seeks to establish and disseminate the culture of creativity and innovation of solutions, namely through focusing on the young and the health service recipients in terms of patients.
For his part, Dr. Ziad Memish, the Deputy Minister for Public Health, during his visit to the exhibit yesterday, voiced his pleasure towards what the MOH’s pavilions see in terms of the positive attitude from all visitors, especially children who admired the Doctor “Mobtakir” Program, which the King Abdullah Medical City in Makkah has participated with.
He remarked that the Innovation Exhibit (Ibtikar 2013) has its own significance in terms of maintaining and continuously coping with all the innovations, technologies, and developments worldwide. He went on to add that he visited the exhibit with the aim of inspecting the novel ideas and see if it could come in handy in the public health field, known for its multiple specialties.
He also added that the idea of the “innovative patient” is one of the most outstanding ideas presented by the Doctor “Mobtakir” Program; given that the patients’ opinions and the solutions they provide are meant in terms of the importance of upgrading the quality of the services provided. He also drew attention to the fact that the patients and their families are among the most important sources for obtaining quite a number of solutions to the health problems providing they are provided with the proper environment and adequate support, wishing that such ideas would expand until they reach the entire health facilities.
As far as the Health Affairs General Department in Riyadh is concerned, it reviewed its unique experience in terms of applying the Referral System (Ihalah), meant for referring the patients among the health facilities in Riyadh. It was launched upon the directives of his Excellency the Minister of Health, Dr. Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Rabeeah, in the mid of 1432. It is an internet-based e-linking program through which the user of the program can refer the patient from the primary healthcare centers and the peripheral hospitals to the reference and specialized hospitals in the capital. Further, the Program aims to provide fully fledged and inclusive system with high quality and efficiency; to refer the patients among the health facilities.
The Referral System, besides, aims to relieve the suffering of the patients referred among the health facilities, and reduce the effort exerted by the patients and their families. It also limits the administrative and organizational burdens which those working at the sent and received health facilities could face, as well as creating an opportunity for the officials to follow up the illness cases and directly monitor them.
All the more, the Referral System speeds the transporting of the patient according to their need from some health facility to another. It also improves the communication among the health facilities and provides the information related to the patient, as well as creating an opportunity for using all the available capabilities and resources, such as family, workers, and tools in all the health facilities properly. And it emulates the attitude of the other governmental institutions in terms of providing their services for the beneficiaries via the virtual systems rather than the traditional methods.