A senior medical official said that,  patients will soon be able to contact their physicians at Abu Dhabi’s public clinics 24 hours a day.

The Gulf News reported, Dr Omar Al Jaberi, chief medical officer at Ambulatory Healthcare Services (AHS), said that, such close communication with doctors via email will allow patients to obtain laboratory reports, request appointments and even check on correct medication use.

“The initiative, for which we are currently awaiting final approval, is part of a larger programme to provide patient-centred care, the Patient Centred Medical Home (PCMH) programme. The PCMH has been implemented across all clinics for nearly two years. During its pilot phase at three clinics, it led to a 20 per cent improvement on average in the management of chronic diseases like diabetes, hypertension and asthma at the three clinics,” Dr Al Jaberi said.

“So now we are working to improve patient-physician trust, allow for care continuity and in essence, improve public health,” he added.

“What this means is that the physician is fully up to date with the patient’s condition, and is able to even alert her when preventive screenings, like mammograms or pap smears, become due. It also improves patient-physician trust, which, in turn, has improved compliance with treatment requirements,” said Dr Latifa Al Kitbi, chairperson of academic affairs at the AHS.

“What has really helped patients is that their primary care physicians work with a multidisciplinary team to evaluate overall well-being,” he said.

“We see a smaller proportion of patients visiting the emergency department now, and breast and cervical cancer screening uptake has also improved,” Dr Al Jaberi said.

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Nandini