The Middle East and North Africa’s (MENA) first Health Information Exchange (HIE) platform has teamed up with Abu Dhabi’s Department of Health (DoH) to use predictive analytics technology “to improve the health of the UAE capital’s residents”. 

Malaffi will work with the DoH on a new population risk management analytics platform, reportedly designed to help the healthcare sector “support care management, improve population health, and assist in ensuring continuity of care”. The platform – which was unveiled at GITEX Technology Week 2020 – uses “advanced artificial intelligence (AI) analytic technologies such as machine learning, to build predictive models based on the clinical data and create algorithms that run in near real-time to predict cost, admissions, emergency department visits, readmissions, and diseases”, Malaffi said in a statement. 

It is hoped that the insights would be used to assess and predict risk, thus improving overall efficiency and health outcomes in the sector.

“We are proud to have built a healthcare infrastructure that is on par with the most advanced in the world. The addition of such sophisticated analytic technology to Malaffi is further testament of the DoH’s dedication to improving outcomes for the people of Abu Dhabi,” said DoH undersecretary, H.E. Jamal Mohammed Al Kaabi. “Adoption of the latest technological advancements, which support further improvements to patient care, has always been a key part of our ambitious journey, and reaffirms the emirate’s position as a true healthcare technology leader.

“Access to insights that support management of the health status of the population, will strengthen our response to public health risks and enhance the emirate’s emergency preparedness, and ultimately ensure excellence in healthcare now and in the future.” 

THE LARGER CONTEXT

The risk management solution’s analytics dashboards will apparently provide real-time insights on variables such as risk of emergency room visits, complications of chronic conditions, as well as population risk distribution and trends. 

Reports that can be generated include standard performance and utilisation reports. 

Malaffi – which translates into “my file” – was launched in 2019 as a partnership between the DoH and digital transformation, cloud, and cyber security company, Injazat. The HIE platform, run by Abu Dhabi Health Data Services (ADHDS), currently connects around 83% of Abu Dhabi’s hospitals and 814 healthcare facilities, with 175 million patient records for over 5 million unique patients centralised.

By the end of 2021, Malaffi aims to connect all of its healthcare providers in Abu Dhabi, which currently stands at around 2,000 entities.

ON THE RECORD

“Malaffi is the first HIE in the MENA region, and thanks to the support we have had from the Abu Dhabi healthcare sector, in a short time we have demonstrated the true value that connected healthcare can offer all our stakeholders,” said Atif Al Braiki, CEO of ADHDS. “The addition of such sophisticated analytics platforms only expands on the benefits that Malaffi offers and maximises the data collated. Advanced technologies such as this will provide insights that will empower both the DoH and healthcare providers, to improve their population health and care management efforts.

“The ability to analyse large data sets to identify risk at an early stage and by improving overall efficiencies, we can be one step ahead in improving quality of healthcare and outcomes for our patients. The next stage in the Malaffi journey is an exciting one.”