Continuing medical education will be the fuel behind healthcare transformation in the Middle East

The GCC has lofty goals of future-proofing its nations through transformative healthcare models – models that rely on strategic continuing medical education.

Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) coun­tries have launched an ambitious initia­tive to reimagine healthcare across the region. Continuing medical education delivered through trusted technology providers will be critical in enabling the success of this goal.

As the region explores new methods of supporting the continuing medical educa­tion of its professionals, new relationships are emerging. The Oman Medical Spe­cialty Board [1] now recognizes Continuing Medical Education (CME) credits award­ed by the Accreditation Council for Con­tinuing Medical Education (ACCME)­accredited technology providers. This type of relationship will play a pivotal role in developing clinical professionals fluent in the importance and application of evi­dence-based medicine.

A “moonshot” vision for healthcare transformation
While healthcare transformation is largely considered a “moonshot” in the GCC re­gion [2] the ambition appears much more strategic and attainable when examined through the lens of its goals.

GCC healthcare transformation aims to support the health of future genera­tions through the prioritization of high-quality, accessible, and affordable care in each nation. Governments across the re­gion are working to lessen the economic burden of costs, improve the patient ex­perience, and advance targeted therapies for rare and chronic diseases. The region is working to implement the Quadruple Aim of

1. Improved patient experience
2. Better outcomes
3. Enhanced health professional well being
4. Lower costs

To achieve these goals, leaders and cli­nicians need the tools to address subop­timal patient outcomes, coordinate care, and create clarity and order within their work. Achieving these will require clini­cal teams that are equipped with accurate, timely data and continuing medical educa­tion resources that help them deliver high-quality care.

The future of GCC health
Countries in the GCC are reimagining healthcare through population health pro­grams, disease therapies targeted at chron­ic diseases, and improving speed to deci­sion with AI technologies and big data. This is all accompanied by a shift to value­ based payments and care models that in­creasingly place the patient at the centre of the healthcare experience. As a result, care coordination stands out as a key goal in adapting their healthcare strategy.

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia’s Health Sector Transfor­mation Programme focuses on individual health and patient centricity.

United Arab Emirates
In the United Arab Emirates, the National Strategy for Wellbeing 2031 is focused on quality of life that centres the individual in a holistic approach to health.

Qatar
The Qatar National Vision 2030 emphasizes human, social, environmental, and economic development – emphasizing the human de­velopment pillar through care coordination and personalized physical and mental care for prevention and curative healthcare.

Bahrain
Bahrain’s Economic Vision 2030 em­phasizes the use of technology to reduce chronic disease burden and adopt care coordination.

CME will be foundational to the GCC’s success
The continuing education of medical pro­fessionals will be critical in supporting personalized health initiatives, population health goals, care coordination, and value-based decision making. Healthcare leaders should prioritize training and workforce development from multiple perspectives.

Evaluate the current workforce
Care coordination doesn’t happen organi­cally. Professionals will need training, sup­port, and resources to develop skills, un­derstand their role, and align their work with the overarching system.

Emphasize interprofessional collaboration
Addressing chronic conditions and lon­gitudinal patient journeys requires medi­cal professionals working from the same evidence-based information to coordinate as a team. When teams are working with aligned data and education, clear commu­nication and collaboration are enabled, and clinicians can better support all arms of the Quadruple Aim.

Leverage data insights
Accurate and timely data on social deter­minants of health [3] should be available to all members of the care team across the entire care journey. This requires interop­erable and integrated systems that make evidence-based information continuously available to all medical professionals.

Implement tech that aligns communication across the care team
Care coordination requires medical pro­fessionals who are speaking from the same evidence-based information. This level of alignment is critical in reforming health system navigation, creating an environ­ment of patient centricity, and ensuring coordinated communication between all members of the care team.

Continuing medical education ground­ed in evidence-based medicine is the key to unified progress in healthcare trans­formation. This is why UpToDate® inte­grates CME earning directly into clinical workflows. It creates a seamless experi­ence where users can focus on providing optimal care to patients while still meet­ing Continuing Professional Development (CPD) requirements.

The OMSB use case
The Oman Vision 2040 and Health Vision 2050 focus on primary care and efforts to reduce tertiary and quaternary care estab­lishments.

As part of this vision, the Oman Medi­cal Specialty Board (OMSB) has recog­nized CME credits awarded by providers accredited by the Accreditation Coun­cil for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME). The OMSB prides itself on a long-standing policy of recognizing in­ternational accrediting bodies that ex­emplify rigorous standards aligned with its own. This includes UpToDate, en­abling healthcare professionals in the country to submit AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™ to meet OMSB’s CPD re­quirements. Organizations and clinicians using UpToDate gain access to benefits including:

• Career development: Earning AC-CME-accredited credits improves the healthcare resume and makes profession­als more attractive for promotions and new job opportunities, both at home and abroad.
• Improved quality of care: The effort of attaining CME credits improves clinical skills and knowledge and supports better patient outcomes and higher standards of care.
• Enhanced compliance and recogni­tion: Since OMSB recognizes ACCME-accredited credits, healthcare profession­als are ensured to meet requirements for maintaining licenses and certifications.
• Expanded access to resources: The evidence-based clinical informa­tion housed in UpToDate combines with ACCME-accredited CME activities to support informed decision-making and en­hanced clinical practice.

Healthcare transformation starts with CME
Educated professionals are the foundation of a healthcare system that’s built for future-proof nations and that supports generations of healthy citizens. Wolters Kluwer is proud to offer UpToDate as an evidence-based en­hancement of clinical workflows – one that adds value not only to individual clinicians but to the region as a whole, both now and for years to come.

Reference:

1. https://omsb.gov.om
2. https://www.pwc.com/m1/en/industries/documents/a-golden-thread-to-transform-healthcare.pdf
3. https://www.wolterskluwer.com/en/solutions/health-language/social-determinants-of-health-sdoh-data