Last month, as a part of Oman’s overall e-government strategy, the Ministry of Health (MoH) announced the latest set of services that will be offered online. The plan outlined the development of three digital tools to better extend the ministry’s services. According to a statement by the MoH, the first to be launched will be an e-Referral Engine, which was successfully tested in a pilot program in August. The program will replace paper-based referrals between institutions. It will be gradually deployed to tertiary hospitals and then extended to other hospitals and health centers this year. The engine will cover both request and appointment bookings and will also provide a notification system via SMS. Dr. Ali Moosa, the minister of health, said this will resolve all the drawbacks of the existing system. “Referral feedback … will be mandatory … thus it will ensure proper continuity of care,” he added. Following the
