Qatar has become the world’s first country to implement the Clinical Information System (CIS) across its public health sector, it was highlighted at a conference in Doha.
The CIS provides a personal electronic medical record for each patient at Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) and Primary Health Care Corporation (PHCC).
“I am proud of our achievements in implementing one Clinical Information System across all HMC hospitals and primary health centres. In doing so, Qatar has become the first country in the world to utilise this system across its entire public health sector,”  HE the Minister of Public Health Dr Hanan Mohamed al-Kuwari said in her speech during the opening ceremony of the inaugural HIMSS Qatar Educational Conference and Health IT Exhibition.
HMC, in collaboration with HIMSS - Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, hosted the three-day event until yesterday.
HIMSS is a US-based leader in health transformation through IT with a breadth and depth of expertise to improve the quality, safety and efficiency of health, healthcare, and care outcomes.
“What HMC and PHCC have achieved with the CIS programme is remarkable and was formally acknowledged by HIMSS in 2016 with two of HMC’s hospitals - Heart Hospital and the National Center for Cancer Care and Research – being recognised with the HIMSS Analytics Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model Stage 6 distinction, an international benchmark for the use of advanced IT to improve patient care,” said Jeremy Bonfini, executive vice-president, Global Services, HIMSS.
Organised under the umbrella of the Ministry of Public Health and in partnership with PHCC and Sidra Medicine, the conference was inaugurated by HE Dr al-Kuwari and attended by HE the Minister of Transport and Communications Jassim Seif Ahmed al-Sulaiti and hundreds of healthcare professionals. 
“Qatar’s public health system has grown exponentially in recent decades and it has never been more important to connect the system and share patient medical information between providers. For our patients, it is important that they see all the services at HMC, PHCC and Sidra Medicine as one connected system and receive the same high-quality care regardless of where they are treated,” HE Dr al-Kuwari explained. 
Local and international speakers presented on a range of topics highlighting the clinical IT transformation that is under way across Qatar’s healthcare system. The programme was structured around Clinical Informatics, Diagnostic Informatics, Nursing Informatics and Health Information Management, and featured keynote speakers, industry leaders, health IT products and a full scientific educational programme.
“This conference, a first-of-its-kind event in Qatar, has provided a wonderful opportunity for healthcare professionals to share and discuss the latest and most relevant information technology news and updates,” said Dr AbdulWahab al-Musleh, deputy chief medical officer, CIS, HMC.
“It has shone a spotlight on the success of our CIS programme in Qatar. Our programme is benefiting patients through improving safety, boosting our clinicians’ ability to diagnose conditions effectively and quickly, increasing efficiency, and allowing clinicians to spend more time with each patient and less time on paperwork,” explained Dr al-Musleh. Page 9
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