Strengthening virtual primary care across the Middle East: our new partnership with Altibbi

We’re delighted to be partnering with Altibbi to provide learning for their telehealth practitioners across the Middle East and North Africa region.

Altibbi is the leading digital health platform in the region.  The platform currently facilitates around 10,000 consultations per day with carefully selected and trained doctors.

Altibbi is now launching the Altibbi Academy, produced by PCI, with the objective of continuously improving the quality of care by the doctors within its network. The mission for the academy is to fill gaps identified in the provision of care and ensure a world class experience delivered to the patient. In the future, the academy plans on expanding beyond Altibbi’s network to other healthcare providers interested in continuous medical education.

A telehealth service brings with it specific challenges and opportunities, so the learning programme will be flexible and interactive, providing pragmatic content which can be applied in practice in the context of the region. The first cohort of Altibbi doctors will be able to access the academy’s content as early as July of this year.

The content – accredited by the Royal College of General Practitioners  (RCGP) – will include a wide range of clinical topics, as is needed for primary care doctors – with a particular focus on non-communicable diseases (NCDs), to include mental health – as well as other modules e.g. paediatrics, pain management and sexual & reproductive health. It will also focus on broader clinical and communication skills such as practical demonstrations of a diabetic foot assessment, discussing ways of ‘breaking bad news’, and how to conduct a telehealth consultation – which can be a very different approach than a face-to-face consultation.

The driving force behind this project is improving the quality of care for the patient, whether that’s a university student in Jordan trying to better manage her diabetes or an elderly shopkeeper in a small town in Saudi Arabia wondering why he feels out of breath.

“The telehealth academy is a critical ingredient that is needed to build and sustain the digital healthcare infrastructure in our region. Our focus on the provision of quality primary care will solve many critical issues that our region is desperately looking for.” (Ayman Sharaiha, Altibbi’s Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer)

The PCI Academy is PCI’s new learning hub. It offers interactive, evidence-based courses targeted directly at primary care practitioners working globally. Engaging digital modules are complemented by live virtual classroom sessions and ‘community’ elements enabling peer learning and networking.  Clients include WHO and the UN and now, through our new partnership with Altibbi, we are excited that this learning will be reaching additional primary care health workers and supporting quality care for people in need.