DUBAI - The Arab Health Exhibition & Congress 2023, which kicked off today at Dubai World Trade Centre, discussed how advancements in digital health are enabling the treatment of patients more quickly and efficiently, significantly improving health outcomes for patients around the world.

Speaking on the opening day of Arab Health 2023, Dr. Rasha Buhumaid, Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences, shared insights into the latest innovations that are bringing the hospital to the patient.

The key areas highlighted by Dr. Buhumaid included Artificial Intelligence (AI), health Apps, video games, portable point-of-care diagnostic devices and medical drones, all of which are reducing the time taken to reach patients as well as providing greater access to health data and information.

Dr. Buhumaid said, “In emergency medicine, time is of the essence. We have that golden hour – but sometimes seconds or minutes when our response to the patient is vital. New technologies are perhaps having more of a transformative effect in the emergency care sector than other areas of healthcare.”

In the AI space, patient care technologies such as Hexagon use digital maps to allocate where a patient’s pre-hospital care should be, increasing healthcare accuracy and delivery. Other areas where AI is proving invaluable are in cardiology, with an AI tool that detects heart disease in 20 seconds - a process that would normally take 13 minutes - being showcased by the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) at Arab Health 2023.

In addition, portable point-of-care diagnostic devices such as ECG’s mean that patients can send data to their doctor before they enter the Emergency Room.

Commenting on the role of technology in emergency care, Ross Williams, Exhibition Director for Informa Markets, said, “Innovation is under the spotlight at Arab Health 2023 and new technologies are a game changer for delivering vital treatment to patients in emergency situations. The event is bringing together visionaries from around the world that are at the forefront of these life-saving technologies.