Saudi Arabia sees a bright future with Medi-Span drug decision support solution

Facing surprisingly high medication error rates, leaders in Saudi Arabia’s healthcare transformation create change with decision support technology.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has launched an ambitious program to restruc­ture healthcare in the country. The Health Sector Transformation Program ^[1] under Vision 2030 aims to create an integrated and effective healthcare system for the en­tire country. One of the key areas of oppor­tunity for improvement is evidence-based drug and medication information.

KSA is navigating a problematic level of pharmaceutical errors – as high as 56 per 100 medication orders.^[2] This statis­tic represents a significant opportunity for improvement in outcomes, the patient experience, and population health results, especially with the application of medical decision support technology.

Eng. Ibrahim Al Ammar, Chief Infor­mation and Technology Officer, National Medical Care Company, has overseen a 40% reduction in medication errors with the implementation of EHR-integrated technologies. He envisions a future where evidence-based research powers improve­ments and enhances system-wide clinical decision-making.

Saudi Arabia’s medication decision support challenges persist
Saudi Arabia faces an urgent need for im­provement in their medication decision support.^[2] The country has formed the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) and the National Pharmacovigilance and Drug Safety Centre, but is still working to counter issues including poor understand­ing of precision medication decision sup­port among healthcare providers and a lack of effective reporting methods. The country has deep needs for ongoing educa­tion, incorporation of skills in assessment methods, and standardized error reporting protocols. Experts in the field have pro­posed solutions including:

• Structured competency-based training.
• Promoting a reporting culture that encourages transparency and learning from errors.
• Simulation exercises for periodic skill assessments.
  
  Crucially, technology including elec­tronic health records and computerized physician order input systems will be fun­damental to improving medication deci­sion support.^[3]
  
  Technology can play a significant role
  A scholarly article out of King Abdulaziz University ^[2] recommends that technolo­gies that enhance medication decision-making procedures should be leveraged to reduce medical errors as part of the promotion of national patient care out­comes projects. Failure to use this type of technology can contribute to errors such as underdosing and overdosing—a significant threat to vulnerable populations like geri­atrics and pediatrics.
  
  These technologies, when integrated with EHRs, can help reduce administra­tion errors. Features like alerts and au­tomatic reminders improve medication management and reduce timing mistakes. Realizing these results requires improved medication management systems that identify trends and patterns. This type of identification guides the kind of clini­cal decision-making that is required for customized treatment regimens that align with the needs of individual patients.
  
  However, implementing clinical de­cision support systems in Saudi Arabia presents various hurdles, including the need for training and support, high costs, and opposition to change from healthcare workers. Meaningful long-term improve­ments will require:
  
• A culture of transparency
• Commitment to lifelong learning and continuing medical education
• Non-punitive error reporting
• Aligned patient education
• Continuing medical education

Regular training can help encourage ac­ceptance of more sophisticated technol­ogy, including EHRs and medical decision support systems that simplify drug manage­ment and enhance communication within healthcare teams.

Eng. Al Ammar leads medication decision-making transformation at National Medical Care Company
Eng. Ibrahim Al Ammar, Chief Informa­tion & Technology Officer at National Medical Care Company, has been at the leading edge of systemic healthcare change in Saudi Arabia. He has driven large-scale projects focused on improving patient care and operational excellence across the enterprise. A key element of this success has been the implementation of Wolters Kluwer’s Medi-Span®. [4] This EHR-integrated solution has been key to transforming prescribing practices, re­ducing clinician burnout, and preventing medication errors—setting a new bench­mark for medication decision support across the country.

Eng. Al Ammar envisions a future of evidence-based medication decision-making in Saudi Arabia that builds on its past of printed formularies and phar­macists’ knowledge—identifying limita­tions of human memory and augment­ing those gaps with EHR integrations that incorporate real-time proactive de­cision support at the point of care. The next generation of these systems moves beyond simple rule-based alerts to solu­tions that improve patient outcomes through intelligent, actionable insights. Older rule-based systems brought with them the challenge of alert fatigue and poor workflow integration, burdening clinicians with non-critical notifica­tions and overly complex interfaces. Medi-Span gets in front of these hurdles with patient-specific and context-aware alerts that consider factors including lab results, age, and renal function. It sup­ports a positive clinician experience and improved patient care outcomes by sup­pressing low-value alerts and allowing for customization.

Implemented at National Medical Care Company in 2019, Medi-Span has pro­vided rich drug interaction data covering:

• Contraindications
• Allergies
• Duplicate therapies

The result has been a 40% reduction in medication errors across the hospital network. Since implementation, National Medical Care Company has also enjoyed streamlined workflows, improved decision-making at the point of prescription, and reduced time spent on manual checks. These results exemplify a vision of health­care transformation grounded in personal­ized and predictive care that aligns with healthcare transformation goals across Saudi Arabia.

Applying the potential of EMR-integrated technology
As Saudi Arabia’s Healthcare Transforma­tion Program evolves, many more opportu­nities to improve technology with medical decision support systems are sure to emerge across the region.^[5]

Eng. Al Ammar provides advice for any leaders who want to see similar results at their organizations: “Choose a system that inte­grates seamlessly with your EMR, offers cus­tomizable alerts, updates regularly, and scales with your organisation’s needs. Most impor­tantly, involve your clinical teams early and work with a vendor that provides strong im­plementation support – like Wolters Kluwer.”

• Get more information about how Medi-Span supports informed medication-related decisions. Learn more: https://www.wolterskluwer.com/en/solutions/medi-span

Reference:

1. https://www.globalhealthsaudi.com/en/overview/industry-insights/saudi-health-sector-transformation-accelerated-under-vision2030-and-pandemic.html 2.
2. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12030464/
3. https://www.wolterskluwer.com/en/expert-insights/targeting-medication-errors-in-the-drive-for-patient-safety
4. https://www.wolterskluwer.com/en/solutions/medi-span
5. https://www.wolterskluwer.com/en/news/wolters-kluwer-new-uae-teamcloud-hosting-data-center