The Ministry of Health (MOH) indicated that "My Referral Program" (Ehalati) has referred 186.476 cases during 1435H. Out of these, 158515 cases (amounting to 85%) were approved immediately, whereas 5469 cases (about 2.9%) are still under processing and review, and 21167 cases (at a rate of 11.7% of all referred cases) didn’t benefit from referral, as the required service, after consulting the competent medical committee, was proven available in the referring hospital. That is to be added to 1325 cases (0.7%) still on the waiting list. This is a summary of all the cases referred by the system from the primary healthcare centers (totaling 2259 centers), as well as the cases referred amongst peripheral, general and specialized hospitals.
Meanwhile, the Director of Ehalati Program, who serves also as the Assistant Director General of Health Emergency, Mr. Suleiman bin Ahmad Al-Sharie‘, said that "the program was run during its trial period on Muharram 13th, 1434 H, in an endeavor to unify measures of patient referral among the Kingdom's various hospitals at all levels in an electronic, fast and clear manner. The treating physician is the only person who can start the referral procedures directly without the need for entreaty to obtain this service." He added that "the program is closely followed up by His Excellency the Minister of Health, in preparation for the official launch, to connect all government hospitals with one another, and with and the other supportive and partner health sectors assigned to provide health services during the coming developmental period, Allah willing, in order for the objectives and benefits of the program to be tangible for the citizen on the ground."
It's worth mentioning here Ehalati Program is reckoned one of the specific service programs carried out by the Ministry of Health. It has been fashioned to bring into reality the slogan: "Patient First". Advantages of the program are numerous, including providing medical counseling among the physicians in the various medical facilities, to study the patient case without the need for transferring him. It also provides all the logistic and coordination requirements to refer the patient from one medical facility to another. In addition, it provides an archiving and statistic system, which contains information of the referred patients in the Kingdom’s hospitals.
Ehalati developing team continues its diligent work in the final stage of the trial period to materialize message and objective of the program. To that end, all MOH hospitals and health affairs directorates in the regions and provinces were linked to the Medical Coordination and Follow-up Main Center at the MOH headquarter, as well as the medical coordination centers in the health affairs directorates or regions and provinces. These centers have been provided with the necessary medical and technical staff to oversee and follow up workflow all through the Kingdom around the clock, even in the weekly and official holydays.