trakMD is proud to be awarded the ISO 27001:2013 certification on Nov 20, 2020. The certification is issued under UKAS – United Kingdom’s National Accreditation Body. This stands for an internationally recognized standard that ensures trakMD meets a set of best practices and controls for a comprehensive security management system.
Achieving the ISO 27001:2013 is the outcome of dedication and committed involvement of every member of trakMD’s team to constantly provide the highest level of data security standards, privacy & confidentiality for our healthcare providers and patients.
As ISO 27001:2013 certified, we in trakMD have:
Examined our information security risks.
Designed a set of security controls to mitigate these risks.
Adopted a management process that reviews these controls on an ongoing basis.
Conducted an internal audit of the above to test for conformity.
Had an audit conducted by an ISO accredited external party to test for conformity.
The certification is valid for three years but does require annual audits to test for continued conformity.
trakMD is the first healthcare solutions provider and platform in the Middle East to receive the ISO 27001 certification. trakMD will continue to provide its users with the highest standards of quality and security in this emerging digital healthcare era through its online booking, telemedicine, remote patient monitoring, and patient engagement solutions.
On March 12, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic. A pandemic is declared when a new disease, which people have no immunity to, spreads around the world, and is heavily transmitted between individuals. COVID-19. On February 21, 2020, the Ministry of Public Health in Lebanon announced the first case of Coronavirus (COVID-19), and as of the date of this blog post, 619 cases have been identified, 20 of which were fatal. The government imposed a number of gradual measures to slow down the spread of the virus, including asking people to stay home.
trakMD, as a patient engagement platform that has always aimed to empower patients, is dedicating its resources in these difficult times to assist in every way possible in fighting the spread of COVID-19. In collaboration with the Epidemiological Surveillance and E-Health teams of the Ministry of Public Health in Lebanon, and as per World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines and recommendations, trakMD has developed an online symptom checker and self-help guide for people who might think they have symptoms of COVID-19, or are unsure and need guidance. The online symptom checker helps people determine if testing is needed, where the nearest testing location is, and what best course of action to be taken for every different circumstance. It is available in both Arabic & English and can be accessed via the Ministry’s mobile app, its website, and directly from trakMD’s website.
This public health service tool is essential in a time where abiding strictly to health recommendations and guidelines is of the utmost importance in containing the spread of Coronavirus. This COVID-19 symptom checker is developed to assert the need to take action on an individual level in the community, and aims to assist individuals in understanding the best course of action while lifting some of the heavy burden on the MOPH’s hotline and dedicating it to cases that are most in need.
The joint efforts between trakMD and MOPH to fight COVID-19 continue as their teams work around the clock to provide the public with a much need online consultation solution. The solution would allow patients to connect remotely with healthcare providers from the safety and comfort of their homes. A dedicated team of healthcare providers from the Ministry will be available to assist patients suspecting infection or those in quarantine in an efficient manner in identifying and following up on COVID-19 cases.
As an Endocrinologist, Dr. Antoine explains how more than a third of his patients come in having already diagnosed themselves, and only in need of a confirmation and an official prescription. He wonders how many others browse the internet, self diagnose, and do not visit a specialist, and how often misdiagnosis causes serious repercussions. The age of information has virtually placed all knowledge known to mankind at the palms of hands of all people, and with so much information comes misinformation. Collaborative healthcare is a care philosophy that aims to empower patients by providing them with the tools necessary to be well informed of their condition and actively involved in their healthcare experience.
Patients and healthcare providers partnering up
Why?
Collaborative healthcare is not an option healthcare providers can choose whether to adopt or not anymore. It is an emerging paradigm through which patients gain more control over decisions and actions affecting their health. It is a two-way engagement that does not mean disempowering heatlhcare providers, but on the contrary, it is only possible through regular medical feedback and it significantly enhances treatment outcomes.
Collaborative healthcare increases trust and builds a partnership between patients and healthcare providers. It increases the patients’ responsibility for their own health while improving compliance. Moreover, collaborative healthcare creates a transparent, informative, and satisfactory healthcare experience that helps patients live better, healthier, and healthcare providers retain their satisfied patients.
How?
The tools necessary to achieve a patient-doctor collaborative relationship must achieve two things: – Patients acquiring enough knowledge on a regular basis to engage their healthcare providers. – A facilitating environemnet/platform.
trakMD, as a patient engagement platform highly active in Lebanon, has adopted the collaborative healthcare philosphy in empowering patients by providing both patients and healthcare providers with a multitude of smart and automated tools to build participatory partnerships.
For that purpose, trakMD worked closely with healthcare providers and patients, utilizing their feedback to optimize its patient engagement tools. As a result, a patient’s healthcare experience on trakMD is now more comprehensive and empowering than ever. In addition to the convenience of finding and booking doctor appointments 24/7 and receiving automated appointment reminders, patients are equipped with three other tools dedicated to empowering them:
Personal Health Records
Upon creating an account on trakMD, users get a digital personal health record (PHR) which they can enrich with their health history, vaccinations, measurements, and examination results as attachments. Patients assume complete ownership of their PHR, and have the luxury of choosing whether, while booking appointments, healthcare providers can have access to their PHR or not. Access can even be specified as either “view only” or “view & edit”, and with the latter, healthcare providers may update information available in the PHR. Sharing the PHR with healthcare providers helps improve medical outcomes by providing a much needed health history that would prove to be much more trustworthy than in-visit inquiries.
Preventive Reminders
Recommendations for cyclical checkups and examinations are rarely adhered, and the main reason is failure to track when an. trakMD delivers the cyclical reminders module that helps automate the process and personalize it for every patient indefinitely. Predefined templates are selected for patients once, and will keep recurring unless assigned otherwise. By providing patients with the knowledge and assistance to make decisions that can improve their health, they are empowered by their own healthcare providers in a perfect example of how a patient-doctor partnership can be satisfactory for both.
Patient Education
trakMD’s patient education module is the basic building block of a patient-doctor collaborative healthcare experience. By assigning patients to different groups based on their health conditions or other criteria, healthcare providers share knoweldge personalized to the patients’ needs. It is a process that doesn’t and shouldn’t stop, and aims to make patients co-responsible and actively engaged in their healthcare experience.
The nature of collaborations between healthcare providers and patients differs from a specialty to another. The way psychologists in Lebanon would engage their patients is completely different to how a dentist would. Dermatologists, for a example, may assign cyclical reminders relevant to their specialty and share different educational material with different patient groups( ‘fillers’ group, ‘botox’ group, ‘skin diseases’ group).
When trakMD was launched, it was never about an online appointment booking platform that patients can find and book doctors with, albeit a much needed tool for better accessibility to healthcare professionals. The two seasoned experts in the healthcare industry had, in fact, set their sights on building a comprehensive platform that serves as the go-to solution for everything healthcare, be it for patients or healthcare providers.
The Evolution
The journey began with connecting patients and healthcare providers of all specialties through an online booking platform. Patients download trakMD’s free android or ios mobile application, search for a provider by specialty, location, and availability, and book their appointments instantly with the click of a button. On the other hand, trakMD presented healthcare providers with an appointment management solution that captures live schedule availabilities and places it at the palms of the patients’ hands, all while automating appointment reminders which has helped reduce no-shows significantly. The next step was implementing a personal health record for patients, of which they assume full ownership and decide whether to share it with a provider or not upon booking an appointment. As for healthcare providers, patient engagement features were gradually added, namely the preventive health reminders and the patient education module. Patient engagement has proved to be a key element in increasing patient retention and callbacks, in addition to empowering patients by placing them at the center of their healthcare experiences.
The Age of Misinformation
UAE authoritiese are teaming up with the Ministry of Interior, the UAE’s media authorities, and different departments in an effort to limit incidents caused by unauthorized health advice on the internet. The problem with medical misinformation, whether in the form of health tips or online diagnosis and treatment plans, is that it easily accessible by the public population and efforts to “regulate” on a national scale will prove futile in the face of thousands of international online websites and social media pages. The problem also extends to what may be recognized as “trustworthy”, where an article or a symptom checker can leave much space for individuals to make wrong assumptions, and possibly act upon it.
Healthbook
As healthcare providers utilize trakMD to fully manage their practices, and patients have the tools for an accessible and satisfactory healthcare experience, trakMD’s Healthbook follows naturally as the conclusive bridge to create a collaborative patient/doctor relationship that eliminates the risks of misinformation along the way.
The majority of healthcare providers and medical enterprises have established an online presence across the different social media platforms, and have heavily invested in reaching out and increasing patient volume. The nature of the social media platforms places what may be meant to deliver a serious message on a timeline populated with inconsequential posts (selfies, rumors, personal thoughts..etc). The Healthbook allows them to connect and reach out to users in a healthcare-only social medium that maximizes the efficiency of their submissions. Patients, on the other hand, are insulated from misinformation and connected with peers interested in the same health topics.
Healthcare providers share their posts via articles, infographics, or videos seamlessly from their trakMD dashboard, and entries are automatically tagged with their specialties and keywords that fall under specific health topics. Patients enjoy a personalized timeline populated with entries from healthcare providers they follow and other providers sharing posts about health topics they are subscribed to. Patients are also able to interact with providers by “Thanking” through a dedicated button under each entry, replying with inquiries which will be transferred to a dedicated Q&A section and automatically tagged for providers interested in providing feedback, and sharing posts across other social media platforms.
The Healthbook is the epitome of the participatory healthcare experience trakMD aims to promote, where patients are empowered to take a more active role in their healthcare journey.
trakMD
is proud to announce its partnership with Makassed Philanthropic Islamic
Association of Beirut.
Al
Makassed provides affordable healthcare at a multitude of Primary Healthcare
Centers (PHCs) spread across Lebanon, with four located in Beirut. By equipping
the PHCs with trakMD’s full digital solution, it is rendered more accessible,
efficient, and patient-engaging. Patients are empowered, with their healthcare
experience encompassing the immediate, preventive, and educational care.
trakMD
would help patients find doctors and book appointments online at the patients’
convenience in any of the Makassed PHCs. Patients can read reviews, check availability,
and book their appointments with the click of a button. Whether it’s a
cardiologist, ophthalmologist, psychologist, or any of the specialties
available at Makassed PHCs, patients are equipped with many tools to place them
at the center of their healthcare experience. Once an online appointment is
booked, the patient receives an automated appointment reminder. After which, the
practitioner can share checkout notes with the patient that can include
treatment plans, medication instructions, and general information.
Al Makassed offers patients w great variety of services and specialists to book online with: Gynecologist, Dentist, Endocrinologist, Pediatrician, Dermatologist, Psychiatrist, Plastic surgeon, Obstetrician, ENT, Orthopedic surgeon, Allergist, and many more.
الاضطرابات النفسية متعددة ومنها ما يمكن التعايش معه ومنها ما يعيق الحفاظ على حياة طبيعية، من المهمّ أن تكون هناك دائرة دعم نفسي حولك، سواء كانت العائلة أو شريك الحياة أو الأصدقاء لأن ذلك يمنح الإحساس بالأمان والشعور بالتعاطف والصلة مع الآخرين. وهي من الاحتياجات المهمّة التي تحافظ على السلامة النفسية.
من ضمن الاضطرابات الشهيرة جدًا والتي تتناولها العديد من الأفلام (خاصة الأفلام التاريخية والتي تتناول الحروب) اضطراب ما بعد الصدمة PTSD وهو نوع من الاضطراب النفسي الناتج عن حصول حادث واحد أو عدة حوادث أو تهديدات، سواء كان ذلك موجّهًا تجاه الشخص نفسه أو في محيطه بشكل عام. تظهر الأعراض بعد أشهر من الحادث نتيجة عدم القدرة على امتصاص الموقف أو التعامل معه، من أمثلة هذه الحوادث: التحرش أو الاعتداء الجنسي والكوارث بشكل عام والاختطاف والاعتقال والتعذيب والتعرض للعنف الجسدي أو الحروب والأزمات العنيفة.
من أهم أعراض اضطراب ما بعد الصدمة:
تتجلى هذه الأعراض لأن المريض يعيش المشهد أو الحدث المؤلم من جديد في ذهنه وذلك قد يؤثر على الحياة اليومية الطبيعية إذا زاد عن حده.
صعوبة الدخول في النوم أو الأرق
زيادة الاحساس بالمباغتة
التحفز واليقظة المفرطة
مصاعب التركيز
الهيجان ونوبات الغضب
الكوابيس أثناء النوم
الشعور دائمًا بأنّ هناك من يترقبه
الشعور بالإحباط والسلبية
شعور بالذنب والقلق واللوم
إذا اجتمعت بعض هذه الأعراض فهي دليل أكيد على وجود هذا الاضطراب ويتم معالجة هذا الاضطراب بالعلاج النفسي والسلوكي المكثف ومجموعات الدعم والأدوية وذلك بحسب تشخيص الطبيب.
كيف يتم تشخيص اضطراب ما بعد الصدمة النفسية؟
يتم تشخيص هذا الاضطراب بصعوبة لأن الأشخاص قد لا يتذكرون الأحداث أو قد لا تحدث الأعراض بشكل واضح يستدعي التدخل الطبي رغم أنّ المحيطين بالشخص سيلاحظون أنه ليس على ما يرام.
الغدة الدرقية تقع في العنق وتشبه بالشكل الفراشة. وتعتبر سلامة عمل الغدّة الدرقية من أهم الأمور التي تؤثر في صحة الجسد بشكل عام إذ أنّها تقوم بتنظيم درجة حرارة الجسم وعملية الأيض (الهضم وامتصاص العناصر الغذائية) ونبض القلب وغيرها من الوظائف المهمّة، إذا لاحظت أيّا من العلامات التالية عليك أن تقوم بإجراء تحاليل للغدة الدرقية فورًا وهو ما يعرف بتحليل ‘TSH’. النساء خصوصا عرضة بنسبة أعلى لخلل في وظائف الغدة الدرقية بعد سن الـخامسة والثلاثين، ولذلك ينصح بإجراء التحاليل فور الشعور بإحدى العلامات التالية.
العلامات التي تدعوك لعمل تحاليل الغدة الدرقية:
الشعور بالتعب. نتيجة قصور في أداء الغدة (hypothyroidism) ويعني ذلك أنّ الغدة تفرز هرمونات أقل من المطلوبة لأداء وظائفها الحيوية. إذا كنت تشعر بالتعب في الصباح أو طوال اليوم رغم حصولك على نوم جيّد فإن هذا قد يكون مؤشرًا على وجود مشكلة في الغدة الدرقية.
الشعور بالحزن. الشعور بالحزن والكآبة من علامات قصور أداء الغدة، لأنّ هرمون الغدة الدرقية يؤثر على المزاج العام للإنسان والقصور في إفرازه ينعكس سلبا على المزاج.
الشعور بالقلق وسهولة الانفعال و”النرفزة”. في حالة زيادة إفراز هرمون الغدة يزداد الشعور بالقلق الانفعال والهياج لأنّ زيادة الهرمون في الجسم يدفع الجسد للإرهاق والجنون.
انفتاح الشهية والجوع الدائم. من علامات زيادة الهرمون، ولكن ذلك و لحسن الحظ لا يسبب زيادة في الوزن نتيجة لعملية الأيض التي تكون أسرع من المعتاد. بينما في حالة قصور الغدة يكون هناك خلل في حاستي الشم والتذوق. فإذا صار الطعام كله يحمل نفس النكهة، عليك إجراء تحليل الغدة الدرقية.
الشعور بالخمول العقلي. هناك أسباب أخرى عديدة للخمول العقلي وعدم الاستيعاب مثل الشيخوخة ومشاكل النوم ولكنّ الوظائف المعرفية قد تتأثر بسبب خلل في هرمونات الغدة الدرقية. فزيادة الهرمونات تؤدي إلى نقص في التركيز وقصورها يؤدي إلى النسيان والشعور بغياب العقل.
زيادة الوزن. الشعور بالخمول والكسل. الألم الجسدي بدون سبب.
تسارع نبض القلب. زيادة النبض بقوة لدرجة الشعور به في العنق والحلق دلالة على وجود خلل يتعلق بزيادة نشاط الغدة الدرقية.
جفاف البشرة. الجفاف وتغير لون البشرة من علامات قصور الغدة الدرقية نتيجة لبطء عملية الأيض.
الإمساك وخاصة بسبب قصور الغدة الدرقية نتيجة لبطء عملية الأيض.
تتغير في الدورة الشهرية عند النساء لتصبح أكثر كثافة وأطول مدة وقد تقصر المدة بين الدورتين بسبب قصور في عمل الغدة الدرقية.
ارتفاع ضغط الدم.
مشاكل في النوم. ففي حالة قصور الغدة قد تشعر بالرغبة في النوم طوال الوقت وفي حالة زيادة نشاط الغدة (hyperthyroidism) قد تقلّ ساعات يومك بشكل ملحوظ.
زيادة الوزن.
سقوط الشعر وجفافه من مؤشرات قصور الغدة الدرقية.
صعوبة الحمل.
ارتفاع الكوليسترول.
ما الذي يؤدي إلى خلل في إفراز هرمونات الغدة الدرقية وعدم أداء وظائفها؟
تعود الأسباب إلى الجينات أو القلق أو الحمل أو الخلل الناتج عن نقص المناعة أو العناصر الغذائية أو السموم والتلوث البيئي. لذا من الأفضل إجراء التحاليل بشكل دوري إذا كان الخلل في الغدة الدرقية موجود لدى أحد أفراد العائلة أو إذا شعرت بأحد الأعراض المذكورة أعلاه.
trakMD and the Lebanese Dental Association (LDA) are proud to announce their official partnership!
The aim of this partnership is to provide all registered LDA dentists with an improved and seamless communication using trakMD’s digital platform. As of April 23rd 2019, all LDA’s communication material will be sent and received on trakMD’s app.
GITEX is the biggest technology conference in MENA and South Asia, where trakMD will be exhibiting its revolutionary solution to more than 150,000 attendees. Dubai World Trade Center, October 14th to 18th, 2018.
Lancée en octobre dernier, TrakMD est une plate-forme qui permet de trouver un médecin et prendre un rendez-vous instantanément et partout au Liban.
Depuis un ordinateur ou via l’application mobile, il suffit de se connecter, d’entrer le type de spécialiste et la localité recherchés. TrakMD propose ensuiteune liste de professionnels correspondantau profil souhaité. Il n’y a plus qu’à les contacter. Les utilisateurs peuvent aussi se créer un dossier médical numérique ou demander à recevoir des notifications de rappel – par exemple pour des examens réguliers ou les vaccins des enfants.
Totalement gratuit, TrakMD est en faitun produit d’appel qui permet de vendre des services numériques avancés auxprofessionnels de la santé. TrakMD propose en effet aux médecins et centres médicaux de prendre en charge leur stratégie digitale, que ce soit l’optimisation de la prise de rendez-vous, de la facturation, l’analyse de données des examens, ou la mise en réseau des machines médicales.
Son fondateur, Ibrahim Fakih, est un ancien infirmier spécialisé en nouvelles technologies. Pour créerTrakMD, il s’est inspiré de start-up similaires en France et aux États-Unis. Après un investissement sur fonds propres de plus de 200000 dollars, etdeux ans de développement, TrakMD revendique aujourd’hui environ 500 médecins et plus de 10000 téléchargements.
La start-up compte depuis quelques mois un nouvel investisseur, lui aussi issu du secteur médical, et cherche à lever davantage de fonds.
« L’idée à long terme est d’améliorer l’accès aux soins médicaux, notamment dans les régions reculées et pour les populations marginalisées comme les réfugiés », dit Ibrahim Fakih.
When trakMD was launched, it was never about an online appointment booking platform that patients can find and book doctors with, albeit a much needed tool for better accessibility to healthcare professionals. The two seasoned experts in the healthcare industry had, in fact, set their sights on building a comprehensive platform that serves as the go-to solution for everything healthcare, be it for patients or healthcare providers. 
