The UAE’s leading healthcare provider wins two awards at this year’s Asia Healthcare Awards

The Healthcare provider took home the UAE’s Primary Care Provider of the Year and the UAE’s Patient Safety Initiative of the Year awards.

As one of the reputed healthcare brands in the region, Al-Futtaim Health, the healthcare division of the Al-Futtaim Group, has made a mark in the industry by seamlessly integrating technology and professional medical services and expertise. They have redefined their patient’s experience by delivering high quality, smart and integrated care, while conforming to the use of best practices that safeguard patient safety.

A significant milestone to note, is the gold accreditation that the healthcare provider received for nine of its clinics in the third quarter of 2021, recognizing its patient safety and high-quality healthcare services.  

As a result of their ceaseless commitment and efforts, they have won recognitions in the categories of UAE’s Primary Care Provider of the Year Award - for the second year in the row and the UAE’s Patient Safety Initiative of the Year Award at the 2023 Healthcare Asia Awards.

The awards programme recognises the significant strides that healthcare organisations in Asia have achieved in terms of raising the industry standard and providing the best care to their patients. Al-Futtaim Health has stood apart from the other competitors in their categories, by winning the Gold & Platinum status from Accreditation Canada and innovations in patient safety like the introduction of SmartDoc.

UAE’s Primary Care Provider of the Year

HealthHub Clinics by Al-Futtaim was awarded as the UAE’s first chain of primary care clinics to receive Gold & Platinum status from Accreditation Canada.

The organization has improved on its current offerings and across facilities and competencies, covering areas that include Medication Management, Perioperative Services and Invasive Procedures, and Infection Prevention and Control Standards Leadership, all of which underwent meticulous inspection by Accreditation Canada.

Other aspects of the clinics and operations that were assessed included Governance, Dental Services, Diagnostic Imaging, Primary Care Service, Biomedical Laboratory Services, Service Excellence, and Telemedicine/ Virtual Health.

The Gold and Platinum status from Accreditation Canada have reaffirmed Al-Futtaim Health’s commitment to providing the best quality care to its patients by helping the organisation minimise errors in healthcare offerings, ensuring a high standard of quality care and patient safety across all touchpoints, delivering expert services to patients by certified medical staff, and protecting and respecting patients’ rights.

UAE’s Patient Safety Initiative of the Year 

Best practices in patient safety and quality were efficiently implemented by Al-Futtaim Health through its focus on key factors such as the diversity of teamwork, use of best practices, evidence to track the improvement of patient safety, and how patients and families were meaningfully engaged in the initiatives.

The launch of SmartDoc by the organisation is a unique innovation. It is an advanced handheld device, used for conducting live telehealth exams with patients while simultaneously allowing healthcare providers to perform a comprehensive virtual assessment from anywhere around the world. Using SmartDoc, patients of HealthHub Clinics can consult their doctors from the comfort of their homes, which proved to be especially useful during the height of the pandemic.

Aside from innovative ways in providing care and ensure patient safety, Al-Futtaim’s clinical education department has successfully conducted regular awareness programmes through simulation courses, specialized courses and mock drills relating to patient safety procedures.

The safety culture survey from AHRQ is held on an annual basis and involves analysing reports and preparing corrective actions involving the leadership, assisted by several smart platforms like the incident reporting system and the CIMS drug interaction information platform.

Staff members are properly kept up to date with access to advanced clinical platforms that hold updated information on clinical conditions.