QCHP - Between Challenges and Development

Doha, December 28 (QNA) - In alignment with Qatar Council for Healthcare Practitioners continuous pursuit to keep pace with the technological advancements, and to ensure customer satisfaction of healthcare practitioners and key stakeholders, QCHP with all its departments is currently undergoing massive electronic improvements and changes. In this regard, Dr. Jamal Rashid Al Khanji, Acting CEO has stated that most important improvements are: The enhancement of the Registration/Licensing Electronic System. Partnered with one of the largest IT companies in the world, this project will make the system much easier to use for all healthcare practitioners. In addition to that, a technical support helpdesk has been allocated to receive any technical enquiries regarding the Registration/Licensing electronic system as well as fix any technical issues that arise at any time. Accreditation Electronic Management System was established to receive and manage accreditation applications, submission credit units by healthcare practitioners, provide information about all accredited CPD providers and activities and communicate with stakeholders. The system will be also linked to the Registration Department-QCHP. Development and implementation of an electronic complaints handling system within QCHP, and on broader scale within the state of Qatar in order to ensure patient safety as top priority and a fast, modern, efficient, well-equipped electronic system which provides all the goals which QCHP aims to achieve for public safety. And there will be a SAFETY ALERT SYSTEM that integrates with other system within QCHP. Dr. Al Khanji added that QCHP is doing its best to face the current and upcoming challenges, while ensuring that the work flow preserves the same quality and accuracy without any defects or dereliction in alignment with achieving the National Health Strategy project 5.2 objectives, which achieved its outcomes in the proposed timeframe on the course of two phases as per the following; 100% of private healthcare practitioners are licensed by QCHP by the end of 2014. 100% of Governmental / Semi-governmental healthcare providers are actively engaged in the process of registration and licensing through the QCHP by the end of 2015. 100% of Government / Semi-government healthcare practitioners are actively engaged in the process of registration and licensing through the QCHP by the end of 2016. 100% of CPD/CME providers are educated about CPD/CME accreditation policies through the QCHP by the end of 2014. 100% of healthcare practitioners are oriented about the new mandatory CPD/CME policy through the QCHP by the end of 2015. And as a result of our commitment to achieve the previous deliverables, the numbers of healthcare practitioners that require registration/licensing are in continuous increase. In addition to that, it is worth mentioning that the private healthcare sector has witnessed a huge expansion in terms of the increasing number of facilities and healthcare practitioners working in them. Accordingly, Healthcare practitioner’s licenses have increased by 40% from 2012 to 2014, as the number of healthcare practitioner’s licenses in 2012 was 12335 and increased in 2014 to reach 17000 licenses. The growth rate percentage is expected to reach 140% in the next five years; at the rate of 27% per year. He also added that this upgraded system brings many additional enhancements and functions that will result in better electronic communication for all the involved parties, therefore saving time and effort instead of sending multiple e-mails and reapplying requests. In addition to that, the online payment option has been activated to accept payments for all registration and licensing requests, instead of manual payment. One of the crucial characteristics of the enhanced system is the integration of servers with greater capacities to accommodate the large number of healthcare practitioners’ applications; thus increasing the speed of the system and improving performance significantly. Additionally, by creating a virtual infrastructure using cloud servers that were specifically allocated for governmental institutions, this will ensure that all registration/licensing data are kept safe and secure. It is also worth mentioning that the QCHP website has been updated and equipped with better techniques that make the website easier to navigate. The website is also compatible with all smart devices. Dr. Al Khanji further explained that to promote sustainability and to be more echo-friendly, QCHP will replace all paper requests to be electronic; which will also save a large number of resources and reduce cost by 96% than the previous manual methods. In this regard, QCHP will continue issuing the physical medical license cards side by side with the electronic version for one month; after which and starting from January 2015, they will stop issuing physical cards, and will be completely replaced by the electronic version (e-License). Upon expiration of the license, the word "expired" will appear on the electronic version, which ensures the credibility and transparency in dealing with patients and the public. Further to that, evaluation certificates, training and exam letters will also be issued electronically by QCHP, as well as police clearance letters following the agreement recently done between QCHP and the responsible authority within the Ministry of Interior (MOI). QCHP continues to work on improving its services, and this step is considered as the first phase in the enhancement of the Registration/Licensing Electronic System and will be followed by a number of phases that will be announced accordingly.(QNA)