Abstract

Emirates value their health care system above any other social program. The system of health care in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) faces significant financial and population pressures, relating to comprehensiveness, universality, accessibility and portability, healthcare quality, healthcare cost, and communication technologies (ICTs). All of these challenges are significant catalysts in the development of technologies that aim to significantly mitigate or eliminate these selfsame challenges. The privatization of many governmental hospitals by foreign specialized institutions in the UAE may play an increasingly significant role in these initiatives, as the management of health information becomes a more crucial factor in the successful delivery of health care services in the new millennium. The new corporate body ‘John Hopkins Health System’ is developing a pan-UAE electronic health solution. The Ministry of Health (MOH) and privatization initiatives will play an increasingly significant role in these initiatives, as the management of health information becomes a more crucial factor in the successful delivery of health care services in the present time. The MOH will play an increasingly significant role in these initiatives, as the management of health information becomes more crucial. UAE is actively developing and implementing technological solutions to deliver health information and health care services across the country. The major objectives of this paper was to analyze the changing social contexts and factors influencing the transformation from a real community to a virtual community by the adoption of e-health, and to propose actions needed to create an enabling environment for e-health services growth and utilization in the UAE.

Key words: e-Health, healthcare, communication technologies (ICT), John Hopkins System, United Arab Emirates (UAE).