HIMSS22 Middle East: Engaging Educational Program for Region’s Drivers of Digital Health; Hosted First 'Women in HIT' Reception

More than 2,500 professionals from the regional and global healthcare community – largely executive level decision makers and C-suite influencers – convened last month for the latest Middle Eastern edition of HIMSS’s popular thought leadership conference. For the first time, HIMSS also hosted a “Women in HIT” networking reception.

The 2022 HIMSS Middle East Health Conference & Exhibition informed and engaged changemakers driving the digital health landscape through a series of world-class educational sessions and programming. The event took place in the Saudi capital of Riyadh from 19 to 21 November.

With digital solutions at the core of the mission to help build more resilient health systems, HIMSS22 Middle East addressed the future of digital health in the region. The conference further explored interregional collaboration and setting standardise frameworks to facilitate this collaboration.

The exhibition in conjunction showcased powerful solutions and initiatives aimed at empowering tomorrow’s digital health ecosystems.

And for the first time, the conference hosted a “Women in HIT” networking reception as part of HIMSS’s mission to help address the gender gap in HIT in the Middle East; and to offer a welcoming community of all who empower, support and advance women in health information technology.

“The level of expertise and knowledge of the presenters was excellent, and the local in-depth views that attendees gained from this conference was great,” said Dr. Tamara Sunbul, medical director of clinical informatics at John Hopkins Aramco Healthcare in Saudi Arabia. “The conference was wonderful, insightful and well presented!”

The 2022 HIMSS Middle East Health Conference & Exhibition – held under the patronage of the [Saudi] Ministry of Health, and direct supervision of the National Health Information Center [NHIC].

HIMSS Maturity Models

HIMSS22 Middle East honoured the recipients of the HIMSS Maturity Model Stage 6 and 7 validations. A series of hospitals and medical organisations were praised for driving digital reform through their outstanding innovation and leadership in health information technology to improve patient care and safety. The attendees included professionals from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, the United States, the United Kingdom, Egypt, India, Qatar, Yemen, and Germany.

More information on the HIMSS Maturity Models here.

The event concluded with 10 recommendations from the conference scientific committee to help advance digital reform and reshape healthcare in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

The committee’s five themes toward this effort:

Digital Health: Transformation in Action

• Design digital reform strategies in which governance is a continuous and iterative process, built into services and workflows.
• Enhance the capabilities necessary for data privacy, security, and resilience through long-term investments in infrastructure, software, technology, and human capital.

Integration Through Data and Technology

• Develop national and regional policies to govern the use of health data, assure privacy and protection, and safer care when integrating health services.
• Build robust IT systems that can provide accountable and sustainable care by integrating data between multiple stakeholders across regional and national platforms.

Digital Health: Impacts and Benefits

• Create nationwide registries with coded, structured data and data standards to identify patients and manage disease.
• Leverage artificial intelligence and predictive analytics to enable a more preventative, data-driven approach to service delivery, supporting citizens to stay well longer.

Innovating Person-centred Care

• Apply a holistic socio-technical approach to precision and personalised medicine, driven by artificial intelligence and drug discovery.
• Introduce legislative frameworks for appropriate national mechanisms to regulate data usage and protect patient privacy.

Global Health Issues: The Big Picture

• Develop a standard framework to identify social determinants of health for the Middle East population to support health equity, clinical care, population health, and research.
• Recruit, train and sustain a digital health workforce and leadership through continuous professional development and rewarding career paths.