Hospital Filing Systems in Qatar

As a surgeon in HMC i was surprised to read the complaints about the private clinics in doha.i had always assumed that due to the miniscule amount of work they have (compared to hamad). their record keeping and patient tracking would be far better.

hmc has a very good record keeping system.all your files within last 3 years can be retreived within a few hours on request.you might face some difficulties with appointments at hmc, but consider the fact that it is the only real hospital in this country and has one of the busiest trauma units in the world(as per 2005 -2006 statistics).HMC has received american accreditation now as mentioned before in this forum. smart health cards are to be implemented from this year on i beleieve which will contain your relevant medical data

PRIVATE CLINICS certainly should improve their record keeping . its the only way they are going to be able to retain patients.a centralised record keeping of private clinics is not feasible here since there are so many of them.

wishing you all good health .

Xena, Oh really? That kinda sucks! I misunderstood sorry. :)

"Moonbeam, unfortunately, i was not talking about collective records in Qatar, but specifically at American Hospital. I specifically asked the doctor why and he said that it was the practice there that the attending doctors keep their own records of patients. Yes you have a general file, that they can find if you go there, but your diagnosis and treatment is kept by the doctor who treated you on that day.."

In QP, we are using electronic records system, thereby all inputs by any one of the medical staff can be reviewed by other staff who has got access to the medical records system. Futhermore, a central database has been set up so a patient registered in anyone of the QP clinics can be accessed in other QP clinics. I think HMC has the same system. I, for one, find that this system makes life easier for me and the patient..just one click of the mouse, I can review my previous notes, update and create a new clinical note...it is also a very good communication tool between medical staff.

Although saying that, these electronic records systems are bought in packages and can be quite expensive.

Thanks for all the feed back. Was pleased to hear I am about the only person experiencing this problem.

PotholeResearch, unfortunately I have had this same experience at Apollo clinic(Mansoura). In March, I had this same illness, so I went in to see a doctor there. As I wasn't very happy with that particular doctor's bedside manner, when I had to return 3 days later for more treatment, I asked to see another GP. He had to then send to the previous doctor's room, to get my records.

Apollo don't keep the records together imho.

Moonbeam, unfortunately, i was not talking about collective records in Qatar, but specifically at American Hospital. I specifically asked the doctor why and he said that it was the practice there that the attending doctors keep their own records of patients. Yes you have a general file, that they can find if you go there, but your diagnosis and treatment is kept by the doctor who treated you on that day.

I am not aware that even in South Africa is there a cumulative health system incorporating the entire country's medical documents, but certainly if I go to the same institution and see four different doctors they will all be able to see what I have been in for previously.

Hamad is improving day by day especially by putting new policies into place to help follow patients.

Patients can of course have a copy of their hospital records and Hamad have improved on this and are continue to improve day by day. Since the system has been undergoing a new face lift it will take time to complete the work.

They have a Quality Management Department who are now working very hard on better Doctor/Patient relationships.

I prefer myself to use Doha Clinic and it not any more expensive than most other hospitals, mind you having said that, the GP's are very disinterested in people with common colds and it is better to get an appointment wiht a specialist. True, you have to pay a little more but at least he recognises his patients when he sees them again.

There are many small clinics being run by doctors who studied and practiced in the UK especially around the Doha clinic, might be worth looking at one of those.

Hope you are feeling better soon wishing you good health.

Hamad have just undergone an American Hospital accreditation whereby, amongst other things patients have the right to exmaine thier medcial records....Of course you have to go thru a procedure, write an application, then a board looks thru your records, if there's anything there they consider detrimental to your health, they can pull it, but they have to give you all relevant info requested within a certain time frame.

To get a medical report from them you have to fill in an application at medical records, to get the report it can take a month or so....especially since everyone is on hoilday at the mo.

Is it possible to get the copy of medical test reports from HMC or possible to check online by the patient himself? The doctor at PHC wasn't willing to give me a copy and did not even let me have a look properly. Didn't face this situation in private clinics.

Maybe it's because I'm a nurse, but having lived/worked in 3 countries over 7 years here in the middle east I always ask for copies of my medcial tests/ Dr's reports etc.......Just like you keep a record of your banking transactions and employment records I think it's a good idea to keep copies of your medcial tests/reports. Especially as you can go shopping for healthcare here just like you can go shopping for anything else. If you don't like what one Dr says to you it's your choice to go to another.

Also people have this perception that Dr's are like God ( if you believe!) That they are all knowing.....but just like other professionals, some Dr's are good and others are not so good. You may have to pay for reports etc but at least you'll always know where they are and when you find a Dr you like they'll have the benifit of a good history to help you.

Xena, I have had no problem here at the clinic I go to - Doha Clinic.

I must admit after being here 7 years the American Hospital have never really had a good reputation - so it does not surprise me that you had a bad experience there with your records.

Unfortuately things here are slow to change and implementing new hi tech systems would see people losing their jobs.

As long as you see a medical professional who seem to know what they are doing and you get good care then I would just put up with the annoyance factor of filing systems.

If you ever get that sick then forget the private places and go straight to Hamad, the private clinics would be transfering you there anyway if you were ever that sick.

What Xena is trying to point out, is that there is no central database with your records filed in the state of Qatar. It's all okay if you have records filed withing one hospital and you get treated a second time within the same hospital. What she is poin ting out is a lack of communication between clinics and hospitals in general.

Say a person gets treated for a condition by Doha Clinic. He then feels worse and decides to get a second opinion, at American hospital. Then two days later he faints in the supermarket and gets rushed to Hamad hospital on a gurney. .............. Now that's where the problems begin. No central database to check on patient history, which could assist in getting an accurate diagnosis and ultimately save a life.

I agree with Xena. Private hospitals and the government institutions should go via a central database. Just like National Health Service.

The sad thing is that everything here is complicated by bureaucratic red tape; so it's never going to happen.

Hope you feel better soon Xena. :) xx

"Life is life - whether in a cat, or dog or man. There is no difference there between a cat or a man. The idea of difference is a human conception for man's own advantage." ~Sri Aurobindo

hope you feel well xena.

its strange that such a thing should happen.

whenever i have visited a clinic, they always pull up one file that has all my history, including the different doctors i took treatment from within the same clinic.

happy heart

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its odd though, because when I went to the American Hospital (had to have some surgery), I didn't have my personal details with me.

I just told them my name and they pulled out a file and it was fine.

Next day I was told to go to a Clinic and was given a reference slip. When I arrived the doctor checked his system and saw that it was not updated so rang a number with the reference and my documents were faxed over within 5 minutes.

As with everything, sometimes you get lucky, sometimes you don't. :P

I hope you are feeling well though :)

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Hospital Filing Systems in Qatar should be called Hospital FLirting Systems.

I hope you feel better Xena...

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Sorry to hear what you have been through.

Unfortunately, technology is not utlized. No proper electronic medical records. The smart medical card is way away from here.

Also, no network between hospitals and poly-clinics.

This proves my point that private hospitals and clinics are not better than HMC. Personally I still count on HMC for me and the whole family. Do not have a serious complain.

Problem is when the patient has some allergy to certain medications and such clinics do not keep a proper record of that. Results could be disastrous.

That's not correct w.r.t. Apollo Clinic. The dermatologist knew I had visited the GP last week and also about my complaint (with the GP). She was trying to figure out if there was a link between the two complaints, and, all my medical history (alongwith test results) with Apollo was on her (common) database.

Also, the GP has surprised me a few times by saying things like "Remember, you came to me with the same problem on Dec 21st, 2005?" OR "Last time you didn't come in for a follow-up. This time I want you back here in a week" (last time being 6 months ago for some issue I do not even remember)

I'm certain they have a common computer database of each patients medical history.