EC News DeskAmiri Hospital, one of Kuwait’s most established medical facilities, has leveraged new network architecture from Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company, to pioneer new innovations and standards in digital health, telemedicine and in-patient care in Kuwait.
The implementation has resulted in 99.9% network availability, enabled introduction of remote healthcare, staff mobility, and other digital healthcare services, facilitated 60% reduction in hospital footfall while serving same patient volumes and increased appointment efficiency by 120%.
The IT Infrastructure supports the Health Informatics Platform, employing best of breed solutions and integrating with existing systems, delivered through the Kuwait based systems integrator, Virtus Informatics.
“To enhance our operations, we were seeking a HIMSS EMRAM Level 5 certification and aimed to establish ourselves as a Smart Hospital that offers digital services and advanced technologies for patient care. We recognized that a secure, reliable, and high-performance network infrastructure would be essential to achieving this ambition,” said Dr Ali Al Alanda, Director of the Hospital.
“The Aruba architecture, designed, successfully deployed and NOC managed by the company’s partner in Kuwait, has enabled an SLA of 99.9% at Amiri Hospital,” said Eng Mazyad Al Ardi, IT Manager of the Capital Governorate.
In line with its digital transformation vision, the hospital now delivers all services –including registration, appointment setting, and prescription management – through the Digital Gateway Derwaza. “We have set up the Gateway for the convenience of our patients with seamless and secure access, and high-performance for a remarkable user experience,” he said.
With a pervasive wireless coverage now in place, underpinned by a robust and scalable wired network, Amiri hospital has been able to introduce new and innovative technologies to enhance patient care. “We have implemented over 50 portable devices, that give our medical practitioners instant secure access to patient records, wherever and whenever they need it,” said Dr Raed Syed Hashem, Head of Disaster Management Team. “This not only empowers our staff to perform their duties more effectively, but it also serves as a highly visual example to patients, of Amiri Hospital’s commitment to pioneering the latest digital technologies.”
The Covid-19 pandemic best demonstrated the value and capabilities of Aruba’s infrastructure. “Nearly overnight, we had a pressing need to serve thousands of patients remotely,” said Dr Hashem. “We suddenly had to manage remote network access for thousands of people, and the platform not only delivered the performance we needed, but also effectively protected the network from the fifty plus attacks and malicious access attempts we typically faced each day,” he added.
During the lockdown, the Hospital successfully migrated 80% of its services to digital channels and consequently were able to reduce the footfall by 60% while still offering world class care to its patients. As pandemic related restrictions were lifted, Amiri Hospital managed to maintain this reduction in footfall while enhancing patient and staff satisfaction. “Today, we still have over 400 patients per day who receive remote consultancy. This is not only more convenient, but it has also enhanced appointment efficiency by 120% as we have been able to manage scheduling and staff utilization in a far more effective manner,” he said.
The Hospital’s IT team is looking to continue to use Aruba’s solutions in further innovative projects. It is currently assessing Aruba’s Meridian mobile engagement platform to facilitate wayfinding and location-based services around the hospital to enhance patient experience while also preventing overcrowding in corridors and other common areas. It is also testing an asset management system based on Aruba Asset Tags, to enable better inventory management and prevent equipment like oxygen tanks and wheelchairs from going missing.
“Because it works silently in the background, the network isn’t something staff and patients think about unless something goes wrong. The platform has given us the confidence to deliver innovation, at scale and at an accelerated pace,” said Dr Hashem. “With the wellbeing of our patients ultimately dependent on our network and digital services, this translates to better care and outcomes,” he concluded.
