The Dubai Health Authority (DHA) in collaboration with Smart Dubai launched today at the 40th GITEX Technology Week, a state-of-the-art fully automated paperless Drugs and Medical Supplies Management System known as Tarmeez making it the first government entity in the region to implement this international standard.

During the launch ceremony, Humaid Al Qutami, Director General of DHA, said that the introduction of the TARMEEZ system will have a positive impact on enhancing efficiency of drugs and medical material management which is a crucial aspect of the healthcare system.

He emphasised that DHA is keen to utilize the latest digital technology and cutting-edge solutions to enhance the health sector in Dubai and ensure the highest quality of accessible care for patients.

Al Qutami said this project is of significant importance and will aid in the Authority’s goal of providing the highest quality of healthcare services and healthcare management using smart technology.

Al Qutami emphasised on the the authority’s keenness to fully implement the Dubai Paperless Strategy and its key objectives.

The Strategy was launched in February 2018 by His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Executive Council of Dubai. It seeks to eliminate the use of paper from all internal operations and customer facing services across Dubai government entities by the end of 2021.

Ghanim Lootah, Director of Asset Management at the DHA said, “The introduction of this system has multiple benefits and is in line with the DHA Strategy 2016-2021 as well as the Dubai Paperless Strategy. The drug and medical supplies material management system helps tracks orders, monitors supply and usage of stored medication and medical materials digitally. It helps us better handle and manage drugs and medical materials, track documentation and information, and reduce both operational costs and medication waste. To better determine which drugs should be regularly re-ordered, we can look at the system, which provides an in-depth overview of utilization management. Since it all digital the saving in terms of time, cost and resources is significant.

Lootah added that the system provides 100% accuracy in drugs and medical supplies identification for patients’ safety. It helps reduces the time required for inventory monitoring and tracking by 80 per cent. It saves 4,640 hours per year and it saves 2.3 million sheets of printed-paper per year.

He added that the DHA is currently coordinating with more than 183 international manufacturers and 42 local factories and distributers.

The system provides DHA medical staff across hospitals, primary and specialised health centres with an electronic catalog of all the items available. It offers a central dashboard for inventory and supply chain KPI details.

He added that TARMEEZ is integrated with Salama- the Dubai Health Authority’s (DHA) unified electronic medical record system.