title: Supporting the Saudi e-health initiative: the Master of Health Informatics programme at KSAU-HS.
abstract: The health sector in Saudi Arabia has made significant progress in recent decades with some hospitals receiving international recognition. However, this has not been accompanied by advancements in the field of health informatics, which are necessary for hospitals to achieve certain objectives such as enhancing the quality of health care and reducing the time and cost of health care delivery. In this paper we describe the status of e-health in Saudi Arabia, along with some of the national e-health initiatives such the establishment of a new Master of Health Informatics degree programme and the Saudi Association for Health Informatics. A proposal for an e-health plan in Saudi Arabia is also discussed.
authors.affiliation: College of Public Health and Health Informatics, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. majid_tuwaijri@yahoo.com
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Altuwaijri
mesh_terms: D004059:Diffusion of Innovation; D004500:Education, Graduate / Q000458:organization & administration; D018166:Health Care Reform / Q000458:organization & administration; D006287:Health Planning Guidelines; D006751:Hospital Information Systems / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D008490:Medical Informatics / Q000193:education / Q000458:organization & administration*; D008498:Medical Record Linkage; D016347:Medical Records Systems, Computerized / Q000458:organization & administration*; D017146:Models, Organizational; D009937:Organizational Objectives; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D012529:Saudi Arabia; D012958:Societies, Scientific / Q000458:organization & administration; D014495:Universities / Q000458:organization & administration