By Fazeena Saleem
DOHA: Sidra Medical and Research Center (Sidra), the specialty hospital for women and children located near Education City will open its Outpatient Clinic on May 1 as part of a phased opening.
The highly sophisticated facility is expected to be fully operational by early 2017.
Obstetrics and dermatology clinics and paediatric general surgery consultation section will initially receive between 100 and 150 patients. The number is expected to increase to 5,000 patients per week once the clinics become fully operational.
Outpatient Clinics will also provide radiology, pathology, pharmacy and laboratory services, said Dr David Sigalet, Medical Director of Sidra Outpatient Clinic and Chief of Surgery during a media tour of the health care facility yesterday.
“The clinics will be offering outpatient care based on diagnoses, observation, consultation and treatment only for patients referred by the by Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) or Primary Health Care Corporation (PHCC). We are to take care of the more complicated cases,” he said.
Sidra will not be offering emergency services at the outpatient clinics. For paediatric patients, referral to Sidra will come from either the PHCC or from HMC.
However, there are no direct referrals of pregnant women from PHCC to Sidra Outpatient Clinics.
PHCC will continue to refer all pregnant women to HMC. The cases will be reviewed and classified by Sidra and HMC doctors to be referred to Sidra or HMC outpatient clinics.
As a high-tech facility, Sidra outpatient clinics have the latest technologies to enhance patient care. At the paediatric speciality unit the right palm of the child will be scanned during the first visit using the biometric technology.
During initial enrolment, the palm vein recognition technology solution associates the biometric template with the patient’s medical record. Once enrolled, returning patients provide their date of birth and scan their palm. Then, the palm vein recognition technology retrieves patients’ individual medical records, automatically and accurately, according to Dr Sigalet. “This is the first time an outpatient clinic in Doha will use this technology,” he added.
Patients will also benefit from the rapid review and reporting of digital images from X-rays, Ultrasound scans, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans or computerised tomography (CT) scans within minutes. Another innovative technology allows children going into a CT scan to choose a cartoon and theme colour, which will be displayed while they are being scanned.
Another advanced technology at the radiology department takes images in a very short time. For example, a child’s chest can be scanned within a second. A 3D printer will provide 3D models of a patient’s organs such as the heart or the brain to help with treatment plans. Even the image of face of a baby scanned from inside a pregnant mother can be printed into a 3D model image.
“This technology is introduced in a children’s hospital in the region for the first time,” said Deepak Kaura, Chief of Radiology, Outpatient Clinic. The two general X-ray rooms, five ultrasound rooms and the MRI has the capacity of scanning about 80 patients a day. At the obstetrics clinic, pregnant patients referred to Sidra will have access to routine prenatal care, education and testing. Sidra’s doctors and nurses will monitor the health and well-being of the mother and the baby. “We will be seeing women pregnant for 28 weeks and beyond and who are at a low risk. There will be co-ordination between HMC and Sidra to schedule their appointments,” said Dr Paul Douglas, Medical Director of Ambulatory Services, Obstetrics. The obstetrics clinic is expected to receive 150 pregnant women a week and their number is expected to increase between 500 and 600 by end of this year. All clinical services provided at Sidra will be chargeable and the three methods of payments include HMC Health Card, private insurance, or by debit and credit cards.
Sidra will require patient payments similar to the system followed at HMC facilities. Sidra’s research labs will open in June.
The Peninsula
