Tracking the Implementation of Electronic Medical Records in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Using an Adoption Benchmarking Tool.

In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), health services have developed greatly in the past 40 years. To ensure they continue to meet the needs of the population, innovation and change are required including investment in a strong e-Health infrastructure with a single transferrable electronic patient record. In this paper, using the Emirate of Dubai as a case study, we report on the Middle East Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model (EMRAM). Between 2011-2016, the number of participating hospitals has increased from 23 to 33. Currently, while 20/33 of hospitals are at Stage 2 or less, 10/33 have reached Stage 5. Also Dubai's median EMRAM score in 2016 (2.5) was higher than the scores reported from Australia (2.2), New Zealand (2.3), Malaysia (0.06), the Philippines (0.06) and Thailand (0.5). EMRAM has allowed the tracking of the progress being made by healthcare facilities in Dubai towards upgrading their information technology infrastructure and the introduction of electronic medical records.