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The Dubai Health Authority (DHA) is harnessing the power of artificial intelligence (AI) through its Ejada programme with the aim to ease the financial burden of diabetes patients by 30%.
Speaking to Zawya on the sidelines of Arab Health, Wedad Bin Braik, Director, Health Economics and Insurance Policies Department, at DHA’s Health Insurance Corporation, described how AI tools and data can allow the healthcare industry to implement preventive measures that will benefit patients.
“Our leadership has always believed that investing in future tech and AI equips us with the tools to benefit the industry as a whole,” Bin Braik said. “Bringing technology and big data together allowed us to design a proactive model that can help the healthcare industry - actually predict two things – the possibility of complications arising before they become health issues and to be able to detect the percentage of people who are prone to developing certain diseases.”
The value-based healthcare model will pay for performance and outcomes that matter to patients, by providing healthcare service providers with evidence-based guidelines that will set a framework for all physicians to follow with regards to treatment protocols for all ailments.
Currently, the first phase of the programme focuses on three major health issues affecting the UAE population, diabetes, Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and asthma.
Market research firm Insights 10 said that the UAE diabetes device market is expected to be worth over 781 million UAE dirhams ($212 million) by 2030, and this indicates that there has been a steady focus in the healthcare industry to use the latest technology and devices to fight the disease at early stages.
While the Ejada AI system was launched a year ago, findings of the pilot programme have now set a precedent for a wider rollout. According to the DHA, 30 major diseases have been identified within the overall Ejada umbrella until 2025, based on Major Diagnostic Categories (MDC’s), considering several factors, including the increasing number of patients, rising claim numbers, and the significant cost burden.
(Reporting by Bindu Rai, editing by Seban Scaria)
