The UAE healthcare market is expected to grow by 7% from 2015 to 2020, propelled by medical tourism and a higher than ever demand for new facilities & technologies. Together with strong government funding and support, the UAE will no doubt be the front-runner in developing the best care and wellness for the exceptional patient experience.
Patient experience elevation has become one of the top five priorities for healthcare organizations for the coming years. Like other industries, healthcare is facing new challenges generated by financial profitability, rising competition, increasing demand for high-quality care experience, and disruptive technologies offering omnichannel interactions. The ability to adopt innovative approaches to keep patients connected to the ever-changing healthcare ecosystem is highly crucial for business sustainability.
“To be successful in the new era of challenging and promising healthcare, organizations will have to take engagement to a new level and consider patients central to the care team. Strategic focus on patient feedback all along the care continuum will be essential to continually improve the health of populations. Wellness and prevention are key. We are moving from an era of treating the disease to engaging patients in healthy behaviors that maintain their highest quality of life,” Samer Ellahham, Chief Quality Officer at Sheikh Khalifa Medical City, stressed out the importance of patient-centered care.
“Patient engagement starts with giving patients the tools they need to understand what makes them sick, how to stay healthy, and what to do if their conditions get worse. It means motivating and empowering patients to work with clinicians—to be active participants in their care by asking questions, knowing their medications and medical history, bringing friends or relatives to appointments for support, and learning about the care that may be unnecessary,” he added.
Dr. Ahmed Mohammad Abu-Abah, CEO at King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Hospital presents his patient experience plans for the upcoming years “Speaking for King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Hospital, in our patient experience plan for 2017, we will focus on three main domains. They will be improving the patient-driven culture by innovative ideas, investing more on improving patient experience by collaborating with leading institutions in this field, and finally, getting accredited inpatient experience.”
“To improve patient-driven culture, our hospital will drive internal innovative projects focused on both inpatient and outpatient medicine. We are planning to launch two projects – Smile and Thank you – with the aim to improve communication between healthcare providers and patients as well as mutual respect,” he added.
The patient experience is a journey that can take a healthcare organization to the top of the patient care league. However, If not efficient, it can also have an adverse impact on an organization’s reputation and sustainability. It is vital to address the growing gap between patient-family and provider’s perceptions of care.
Therefore, Fleming.‘s 1st GCC Patient Experience Summit (18 – 19 September 2017) will gather the collective voices of leading healthcare professionals in Abu Dhabi to convene, engage and expand the dialogue on delivering a superior and unique patient experience – rather than medical excellence alone. You can meet there both, Mr. Samer Ellahham chairing the event, and Dr. Ahmed Mohammad Abu-Abah, among 20+ industry experts. For more information, please visit the event website.
