The Future of Virtual Care in Saudi Arabia and Worldwide
- Article
- 2023-09-11
The Netherlands is seeing the rise of remote care and monitoring steadily increasing. Many of these initiatives have outgrown the pilot phase and are now offered on a larger scale. However, when we think of a fully virtual hospital, we have to look elsewhere, such as the SEHA Virtual Hospital in Saudi Arabia. According to the initiators, this virtual hospital aims to redefine the healthcare model, and the results are promising, with, for example, a 40 percent reduction in hospital stays. ICT&health spoke with Safaa Almajthoub, Chief Strategy Officer of the Virtual Health Center of Excellence and SEHA Virtual Hospital.
SEHA Virtual Hospital (SVH) emerged in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the need to improve access to care in remote areas. The initiative is part of the trend of healthcare systems to adapt to the challenges revealed by the pandemic, such as workforce shortages, rising healthcare costs and unequal access to care.
SVH aims to provide remote consultations, diagnostic services, specialist consultations and critical care to nearly 166 regional facilities. This allows patients in remote areas to access healthcare professionals and services that were previously unavailable. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Saudi Arabia's national telemedicine program was accelerated to enable access to doctors and prescription medications.
Saudi Arabia has translated the expansion of telemedicine during the pandemic into the Saudi Vision 2030, resulting in the SEHA Virtual Hospital. This hospital offers a safe alternative to in-person visits and includes virtual consultations, remote critical care and multidisciplinary telecommittees.
Patients in remote areas often struggle to access medical care in a timely manner due to limited infrastructure and long travel distances. The virtual hospital can address this challenge by quickly offering digital consultations, allowing patients to receive timely medical advice, diagnoses and treatment plans without long journeys or wait times.
The Saudi Vision 2030 includes ambitious plans for digital healthcare and the integration of existing healthcare infrastructure. The SEHA Virtual Hospital already has connectivity to 166 hospitals, coverage of 65 specialties and provides specialized remote care for various diseases and conditions.
The integration of AI-powered algorithms for medical imaging, such as X-rays, CT scans and MRIs, enables efficient and timely diagnosis by sharing results instantly with remote specialists.
SVH benefits physicians, patients and the health system as a whole. Virtual consultations and remote monitoring enable doctors to work more efficiently, reduce waiting times and increase productivity. Examples include a 40 percent decrease in patient length of stay, a 25 percent decrease in readmissions and costs, and a reduction in door-to-needle time to 33 minutes.
Generative AI applications, such as ChatGPT and Bard, can help hospitals provide patients with efficient and accessible care, especially for quick consultations and improving patient outcomes.
A fascinating aspect of new technologies is their ability to provide telehealth during natural disasters and crises. SVH has contributed to earthquake relief by providing care to survivors in Turkey and Syria.
The SEHA Virtual Hospital is continuously expanding its network by connecting more hospitals, improving accessibility to health services and bringing together a wider range of healthcare providers and specialists.
Important preconditions for this growing network are technological infrastructure, connectivity and integration with existing hospital systems, recruitment and training of healthcare professionals, standardized protocols and workflows, patient education and technical support and maintenance systems.
Safaa Almajthoub, Chief Strategy Officer of the Virtual Health Center of Excellence and SEHA Virtual Hospital, emphasizes the importance of the recently published 'Telehealth Standards and Guide for Virtual Practice' in Saudi Arabia. This guide is intended to ensure the safe and effective implementation of telehealth services.
The future of healthcare will be shaped by digital transformation and technology, with an emphasis on telehealth to improve the quality and accessibility of healthcare services. SEHA Virtual Hospital strives to leverage technology to provide seamless and patient-centered care.
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