Bahrain eyes joining Saudi Arabia’s virtual hospital network SEHA
TDT | Manama
The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com
Bahrain would soon become the first country to join hands with Saudi Arabia’s virtual hospital network if things progress as expected. During a meeting of the Saudi and Bahraini health ministers, Dr Jalila bint Al-Sayed Jawad Hassan expressed intentions to sign a framework agreement to join the network at the nearest opportunity, a report by Saudi Gazette said.
Upon realising a deal, Bahrain, the report said, would be the first country to be linked to the network. Talks about the deal came during a meeting of Bahrain’s minister with Saudi Health Minister, Fahad bin Abdulrahman Al-Jalajel.
With a growing live network of 130 hospitals, SEHA Virtual Hospital (SVH) is reportedly the largest of its kind in the world and rivals the virtual hospital network in the US has 43 hospitals. SVH allows patients to visit their local hospital and attend a real-time live video clinical session with top specialists across the Kingdom.
The system allows sharing of patients’ vitals momentarily, while tests and X-rays can also be taken and shared with the network of specialists. Currently, SVH covers 12 main specialities and more than 35 subspecialties, including hospital-at-home follow-ups, where chronically ill patients can stay connected with doctors from their homes.
The report, quoting the minister, said Bahrain and Saudi should also strengthen their cooperation in clinical trials while pointing out Bahrain’s experience in telemedicine. Dr Al-Sayed also confirmed the importance of cooperation in genetic diseases and gene research. The meeting also reviewed the importance of cooperation in health insurance and mobile health care experience in Bahrain.
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