23 May 2012 (London, UK)

The State of Qatar is exporting new, homegrown technologies to the UK in an agreement that will help enhance National Health System (NHS) service to millions of patients across England.

Qatar Science & Technology Park (QSTP), developer of the RASAD remote monitoring technology, signed the agreement yesterday with Harmoni and Corinium Technologies Limited, two companies that will deploy the technology in the UK on behalf of the NHS. 

RASAD, the first 'Made in Qatar' technology exported abroad,  allows for large-scale real time remote monitoring of patients and will support the NHS in providing preventive medicine and better treatment and follow up of patients through the use of telehealth technologies .  The ceremony was held at the Royal Society at Carton House Terrace in London.

Dr. Tidu Maini,  QSTP's Executive Chairman and Science & Technology Advisor, commented at the London event, "RASAD is an essential tele-health tool to monitor patients who suffer from a variety of long term conditions, and we are proud to be bringing this technology to the UK. RASAD is a direct realization of Qatar's National Vision to develop innovative technologies in Qatar that not only benefit the country, but can also be shared with the world."

RASAD is an ICT telehealth platform developed and owned by QSTP and ASPETAR. It enables real time remote monitoring using wireless sensors to transmit data, allowing doctors and caregivers the ability to monitor a patient's physiological status and health conditions and can significantly improve an individual's health and quality of life.  In Qatar, the RASAD platform is currently in operation at Al Ahli Hospital and ASPETAR, where subjects are being monitored for cardiovascular and lifestyle studies respectively. 

Under the agreement Harmoni -the leading independent provider of out of hours healthcare in the UK - will use RASAD to remotely monitor patients with conditions that require regular medical observation, including those with chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (non-asthma related), heart disease, diabetes and hypertension.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Andrew Gardner Chief Executive Officer of Harmoni, commented: "Harmoni see the provision of telehealth as a fundamental element of the new look NHS under the government's strategy, which has now placed Integrated care at the very top of its agenda. Our use of RASAD will result in considerable financial savings to the NHS, but of equal importance will improve the quality of lives of millions of people in the community."

RASAD will be used to enhance Harmoni's delivery of patient care on behalf of the NHS, which reaches over eight million patients across England.  The care provider's out of hours services, elderly care, and emergency services in particular will benefit from the Qatari technology.

Corinium Technologies Limited, an innovative information and communication technologies company focused on vertical markets with an emphasis on the healthcare sector, will integrate the RASAD platform into Harmoni's existing state-of-the-art healthcare application and information management system.  The company's Chief Executive Officer, Massimo Migliuolo said, "We see this as a great example of seamlessly aggregating best of breed partners to deliver a better and more efficient patient experience that can contribute to improving the quality of life of chronic disease sufferers."
The deployment of RASAD in the UK will be staged, beginning with the activation of a few thousand connections, and followed by a roll out of hundreds of thousands of remote monitoring sessions.

RASAD has already been adopted for healthcare purposes in Italy since 2011. The Rome City Council is currently using the telehealth tool to assist in studying health patterns in Rome with an eye towards developing better monitoring and prevention methods. The outcome of this study will facilitate better monitoring and prevention of lifestyle-related healthcare problems such as cardiovascular diseases, a leading cause of death across the world. QSTP signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) last month in Italy with Fondo di Assistenza Sanitaria Integrativa (FASI), the largest insurance company in Italy and one of the largest in Europe, as part of its initiative to shift to preventative healthcare.
 
Since its international debut, a number of customers in healthcare markets across the world have also expressed their interest in the Qatari technology platform.  The ability to monitor multiple physiological variables makes RASAD an ideal technology to serve a variety of health and commercial applications from sport and fitness to monitoring serious health conditions and safety at work in extreme environments.

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About Qatar Science & Technology Park
Qatar Science & Technology Park is the national agency charged with executing applied research and delivering commercialised technologies in four themed areas, Energy, Environment, Health Sciences and Information & Communication Technologies.  QSTP is located in Qatar Foundation's Education City and has access to the resources of its cluster of leading research universities.  In addition to QSTP's centres, members include small companies, international corporations and research institutions, which have together committed to funding new ventures, creating intellectual property, enhancing technology management skills and developing innovative new products in line with the national vision.  QSTP supports economic and human development in Qatar and has achieved recognition as an international hub for applied research, innovation and entrepreneurship.   www.qstp.org.qa
 
For more information about this press release please contact:
Kimberly A. Mathern
Brown Lloyd James
Mobile:  +974 6645 5177
Email: kimberlym@brownlloydjames.com

For more information on Qatar Science & Technology Park, please contact:
Khaled Al Remithi
Qatar Science & Technology Park
Tel: +974 4454 7040
Email: kalremiti@qstp.org.qa

© Press Release 2012