Clinical Information Technology to Improve Medical Image Sharing in the UAE

A new imaging clinical information system (ICIS) is a workflow-centric enterprise imaging solution that combines medical imaging and integrates it with clinical data across borders: regional, hospital or departmental. Using this technology, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) authorities are developing economically sustainable models of service delivery that should improve patient outcomes and streamline the healthcare process.

Agfa HealthCare (Mortsel, Belgium) held a workshop in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) highlighting new technologies that enable healthcare providers to view multidisciplinary image information by unifying the patient record across departments and create a true longitudinal patient-imaging record. His Excellency Christian Tanghe, Ambassador of Belgium to the UAE, attended the event and emphasized the expertise of Belgian healthcare industries in the demanding field of medical imaging technology.

Mr. Mike Reagin, CIO of Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi (CCAD), presented on the critical technical challenges of a modern multisite healthcare organization, and how they were able to construct a very sophisticated medical imaging network. The hospital’s objective is to become a state-of-the-art healthcare institution in the region, using Agfa HealthCare’s technology and expertise.

ICIS is an enterprise clinical information technology (IT) platform that provides a comprehensive view of multidisciplinary patient imaging records. It unifies the patient record across regions, facilities and departments, creating a true longitudinal patient-imaging record, and allows data sharing across hospitals, whether or not the same vendor delivered their individual picture archiving and communication system (PACS).

Jean-Pierre Slabbaert, Agfa HealthCare’s director of IT for the Export region, remarked, “The ICIS technology enables healthcare providers to create, collaborate, exchange, and manage a comprehensive medical imaging record through the continuum of care. It is a solution that lets hospitals go beyond the borders of a single, individual department, enhancing care collaboration.”

Zyad Benaissa, managing director of Agfa HealthCare Solutions, Middle East, reflected on the enduring relationships between Agfa HealthCare and the most important healthcare institutions in the region, “We introduced digital imaging to the region in 1999 with our first PACS installation in a radiology department. Since then, we have extended our installed base of imaging IT solutions across the Middle East. Today, we are very proud to be able to introduce ICIS, a new imaging platform that will allow our customers to build a true enterprise imaging strategy.”

Agfa HealthCare, a member of the Agfa-Gevaert Group, is a leading global provider of diagnostic imaging and healthcare IT systems. The company develops systems for capturing, managing, and processing diagnostic images and clinical/administrative information for hospitals and healthcare facilities, as well as contrast media solutions to enable effective medical imaging results.

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