Shareefa Albulmonem, head of eServices, Office of the CIO at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center in Saudi Arabia, is one of seven women being honored by HIMSS with a Most Influential Women in Health IT Award.

The women will be recognized at a reception and awards dinner, both on February 20 at HIMSS17

Here, in her own words, is Shareefa Al Abulmonem’s reaction to learning she was among the seven winners:

I am not sure if it’s just me or does life have some amazing surreal moments …

After walking out of a meeting, I received a message in my inbox that stated something around my HIMSS Most Influential Women in Health IT Award nomination.

 I never expected to win as there are many deserving women in healthcare and I thought I was just being informed of the nomination process. I passed the phone over to my boss who was standing next to me in the hospital. He read it and let out a loud cheer that made everyone in the hospital corridors stop and wonder what just happened. In his haste, he congratulated me for being shortlisted and said “inshallah we hope you win.”

The phone got passed to one of my employees and after reading it she told me, “Shareefa, you won!”

How could I win?!  It’s probably a mistake so I checked for other emails from Carla Smith or HIMSS where they might be apologizing for the mix-up. Nothing. I called my husband and told him, I think I need to go shopping as I am experiencing one of those surreal moments. On the way home I read the email from Carla a couple of times and came to the conclusion, “Wow, I won!” That’s when all of the achievements that brought you to this point start replaying in your mind.

I would like to dedicate this award to all the women of healthcare in Saudi Arabia.

The transformations we are making together symbolize the importance we place on women’s health and the importance of a healthy nation.

It gives us an opportunity to be role models to the younger generation as to the changes we would like to happen. Alhamdulillah, the Zahra Breast Cancer Association has grown to become the regional face of women’s health, and I was just a member of an extraordinary team who shared the same vision. My career has been full of individuals who were mentors and guides for me throughout and I would like to thank them all.

Saudi Arabia is an evolving country and to be an active part of the country’s transformation is a blessing.

I believe technology drives majority of the advancements we are currently witnessing throughout the world, and the same applies in healthcare.

King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Center – KFSH&RC has given me the platform to leverage and implement technology for the betterment of health, patient and citizen care.  T

The launch of SEHATY, KFSH&RC Patient Portal, and the praise it received opened numerous other opportunities to build on continuum of care and to be able to constantly engage the patient in the management of their health. There are endless possibilities of how technology can be utilized in the appropriate and various ways in healthcare.

This award has given me a boost on how much more effort lays ahead, so thank you for sharing this surreal moment with me, but I really need to get back to work!