Oman's Health Ministry launches new service in Shifa App

The Ministry of Health of Oman has launched a new service in Shifa App for the optimal use of appointments, under the patronage of Dr. Ahmed Salim Al Mandhari, who is the MOH’s Undersecretary for Planning and Health Regulation.

The health ministry represented by the Quality Assurance Center in collaboration with the Directorate General of Information Technology and Digital Health launched the news service.

The new service aims to investigate the reasons behind missed appointments at healthcare institutions and to reduce the number of wasted appointments.

A text message is sent to the phone of the patient who missed his/her appointment, allowing the patient to access Shifa App. The App then prompts the patient to complete a specific survey to identify the reasons for their absence.

Based on this information, the Ministry of Health can analyze the root causes of missed appointments and utilize this data more effectively. This initiative also empowers patients to actively contribute to reducing appointment wastage and improving the quality of the provided healthcare services.

Also read: Oman launches initiatives to reduce hospital waiting lists

Earlier, Oman introduced a series of health initiatives designed to address challenges and reduce waiting times for medical services at Khoula Hospital and Al Nahda Hospital.

The Ministry of Health, through the Directorate General of Khoula Hospital officially launched under the patronage of Dr Hilal Ali Al Sabti, Minister of Health. One of the key initiatives focuses on significantly reducing MRI scan wait times. Khoula Hospital plans to conduct 12,000 MRI scans over the next year, with a daily target of 45 to 50 scans on weekdays and 20 on weekends.

This effort aims to bring MRI appointment wait times down to less than four weeks, a sharp improvement from the previous wait of up to 16 months in 2021 and 2022.