Abu Dhabi – September 2, 2020: Malaffi, the region’s first Health Information Exchange (HIE) platform, one of the key initiatives of the Department of Health – Abu Dhabi (DOH), has announced that almost one year from the first go-live milestone, more than 60% of all hospitals in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi have connected to Malaffi. These include SEHA Emirates Hospital, Emirates International Hospital, Dar Al Shifaa Hospital, Bareen Hospital and Cambridge Medical & Rehabilitation Hospital, amongst other healthcare providers. This marks great progress in bringing the Emirate of Abu Dhabi closer to its goal of connecting all of Abu Dhabi’s healthcare providers.

The onboarding of these healthcare providers means that almost 25,923 doctors, nurses and other members of the care teams have access to Malaffi and are able to make better informed decisions by safely and securely accessing vital medical information, such as patient visits, medical problems, allergies, procedures, lab results, radiology reports and medications, in 107 million clinical records from 16 different Electronic Medical Records (EMR) systems operated by over 500 connected healthcare facilities.

Speaking about this important milestone for Abu Dhabi, especially during the current situation, H.E Dr. Jamal Mohammed Al Kaabi, Undersecretary of the Department of Health – Abu Dhabi, said: “Transforming Abu Dhabi’s healthcare sector and delivering the best care possible is at the heart of everything we do. Connecting healthcare and having better data is an integral part of that. This is a time like no other. We are seeing people living longer than ever before, the rise of chronic diseases with hospitals operating at full capacity, and new diseases – such as COVID-19 – have demonstrated the need for innovative platforms such as Malaffi, that serve the healthcare sector in Abu Dhabi and enable the provision of high-quality health services to residents. The Platform is enhancing the value of information in the system and speed of connectivity, to help us build a stronger, more resilient and cohesive, knowledge-founded healthcare system that provides better care for everyone.”

H.E Dr. Al Kaabi, added: “The Malaffi platform, which was launched a year ago, reflects the forward-thinking approach of the Abu Dhabi government, to harness technology to unify the efforts of the government and private sectors and increase their impact, especially in the critical healthcare sector. By enabling healthcare providers to quickly access all required information about their patients, Malaffi is a clear reflection of the leaders’ drive to provide high quality healthcare to all segments of society.”

Currently, Malaffi connects 35 healthcare groups and a total of 40 hospitals and 403 clinics, which are now exchanging medical information through the HIE platform. Atif Al Braiki, the Chief Executive Officer of Abu Dhabi Health Data Services, the operator of Malaffi, said: “We have been on an ambitious and important journey of connecting healthcare in Abu Dhabi, from the smaller providers – medical centres, dental clinics and pharmacies – to the larger, multi-specialty, cutting edge hospitals. Witnessing the lifesaving benefits that Malaffi is already providing to the industry, especially in times like these, makes me immensely proud of all we have achieved together, and I stress together. We can’t achieve this without each another. Together we are stronger, and we will continue to go from strength to strength as the final providers join Malaffi and connectivity becomes part of Abu Dhabi’s DNA.”

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the DOH was better set to evaluate and implement response measures, based on real-time pandemic indicators from the centralised database of all COVID-19 results in Abu Dhabi, which was urgently deployed by Malaffi. Furthermore, front-liners were allowed urgent access to Malaffi to access test results and vital medical history information which has been critical in their clinical decision-making process.

Dr. Kumaraswamy R. C. Gadari, Internal Medicine Doctor at NMC Specialty Hospital in Abu Dhabi which is one of the top users of Malaffi, said: “As we did not have an in-house testing facility for COVID-19, it used to take four to five working days to get PCR reports. With access to Malaffi, this time was reduced to 48 hours.”

Having quick access to COVID-19 results through Malaffi has allowed doctors to immediately respond to patients’ needs and ease the anxiety from waiting for test results.