Saudi Arabia’s national hospital assessments

Riyadh, KSA – The Saudi e-Health Maturity Assessment (SeMA) – a comprehensive framework designed to assess and enhance the digital maturity of the healthcare sector in KSA. This initiative aligns with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030, emphasizing the critical role of technology in revolutionizing healthcare delivery – as Hanan Alenzi outlined at the GCC eHealth Development Conference in Dubai.

SeMA aims to establish a baseline for KSA’s healthcare sector’s digital maturity and readiness. It supports national-level decision-making in healthcare by enabling comparisons between current statuses and forecasting trends through analytical reports. Additionally, SeMA facilitates the integration of new entities into the Health Information Exchange system. By identifying strategic initiatives and targeted service points, SeMA guides facilities in achieving their goals and addressing pain points.

Framework development and assessment dimensions

The SeMA Framework is targeting four critical healthcare segments: medical cities, hospitals, primary care centers, and specialized/standalone centers. The framework‘s development is rooted in four pillars:

  1. Digital Fitness Assessment Framework: Evaluates an organization’s readiness to adopt technologies.
  2. International Digital Assessment Benchmarking: Incorporates models like HIMSS EMRAM, Global Digital Health Index, and NHS for a global perspective.
  3. KSA Current State: Assesses the current state of healthcare providers and regulators within KSA.
  4. Emerging Technologies: Focuses on the top emerging technologies that the NHIC will be adopting in KSA.

Champions within the healthcare community advocate for digital transformation and overcome resistance, ensuring broader acceptance and successful integration of digital maturity measures.

Hanan Alenzi

SeMA‘s approach is comprehensive, involving eight core dimensions: strategy, alignment with
national strategies, leadership alignment, finacial efficiency, governance bodies, organizational structure, partnerships, and emerging technologies (including AI, blockchain, and digital building
management systems).

Scoring criteria and weightings

The scoring criteria are weighted across various dimensions, with a significant emphasis on applications & infrastructure (40%) and organization & workforce competencies (20%). Other dimensions like strategy & governance, patient experience & population health, privacy & security, interoperability & integration, data & analytics, and emerging technology are also integral to the assessment.

The assessment begins with an orientation about the model, followed by a mock assessment, registration in the SeMA portal, and the actual assessment. The process includes online validation of documents, an opportunity for scoring and appealing, onsite validation when needed, and a certification and renewal process to be repeated every three years.

Hanan Alenzi is the Director of the Knowledge Management Department at National Health Information Center, Saudi Health Council, KSA. She has spearheaded the establishment of the first National Digital Health Maturity & Readiness Assessment for the Healthcare Sector in Saudi Arabia.

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