RIYADH: King Fahd Medical City (KFMC) in Riyadh has launched a new electronic patient records system as part of a Saudi government program to improve the country’s healthcare services.
Saudi Minister of Health Dr. Tawfiq Al-Rabiah said that the hi-tech medical project was among a number of key initiatives being implemented throughout the Kingdom to modernize health provision.
Dr. Fahad Al-Ghofaili, the CEO of KFMC, said that the electronic medical record system (EPIC) being introduced in the hospital facilities would be the largest project of its kind in the Middle East.
He added that a Saudi team from KFMC had been able to complete the scheme despite facing major challenges brought about as a result of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and that data related to the virus outbreak had provided information that enabled the team to add extra services into the project.
Al-Ghofaili pointed out that over the past two years 41 million items of medical data had been transferred and made available to health personnel while the health records of around 800,000 patients had been archived into the new system.
He noted the importance of using artificial intelligence techniques to study individuals’ data in order to help improve services and health education as well as treatment in hospitals and in patients’ homes.
Following the launch, Al-Rabiah watched a presentation on EPIC’s technical services worked on by KFMC.
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