The Path to Excellence Has No Detours

'Whatever good things we build end up building us'. Jim Rohn.

What births the vision for human good? The passion for betterment. It is the eternal hunger shaping our every achievement and marking each stage of our progress. We have a familiar term for it: the pursuit of excellence.

It is a widely used term we encounter almost routinely, but its import is serious. As a lifelong subscriber to its impact, I believe it is necessary to scrutinize its root value regularly to ensure it is not a rote response. The scrutiny becomes particularly urgent in my field, where excellence is an indispensable tool to help humanity get the succour it seeks.

What do we mean by excellence? The dictionary defines it as the quality of being very good.

How can healthcare providers be very good at what they do? They must provide treatment and care that is in the patient's interests, meets their expectations and delivers the desired results.

This is the goal; it initiates the pursuit of excellence. How we reach that goal is the strategy of excellence.

When American Hospital Dubai set up its Centers of Excellence in various medical disciplines, we returned to the drawing board and asked ourselves the germane question: What did excellence mean to us? How would we make it touch our patients' lives, transform their health, and empower them?

The answer was to become the change we wanted for our patients.

Excellence is not only about the world-class treatment we deliver to our patients daily; it is not only the highest quality of care and compassion we offer. It is a way of life we live every minute, hour and day through our processes, performance, and quality checks to help improve patients' lives.

We envisioned our Orthopedic Center of Excellence at the vanguard of the region's orthopedic services, and it is deeply gratifying that it went on to earn its rightful place.

How did American Hospital Dubai achieve it? By pursuing clear objectives.

Our Orthopedic Center of Excellence has top-class expertise, state-of-the-art infrastructure, the highest quality of services, investment in advanced technology, innovation and research, collaborations and partnerships that amplify exceptional care through knowledge-sharing. And animating these elements is the commitment to lead by example.

Each of these elements is a building block, and they come together to shape the form and function of our Orthopedic Centre of Excellence's distinction and to lead to results.

Why are results at the apex of healthcare's structural vision? They are the ultimate evidence of the patient's payoff for choosing the provider. Results open the doors to improved outcomes, and healthcare's quest is a continual journey towards improved outcomes.

For example, the mortality rate is a critical indicator of a department's performance in healthcare. Our Orthopedic Centre of Excellence continually establishes an excellent mortality track record. Between 2019 and 2021, we performed 7,704 orthopedic surgeries, with a 0% patient mortality within 90 days of the elective surgery. This is lower than regions such as the UK, the US and developed countries*.

It is incumbent upon us to ensure our results conform to the purpose of our commitment. The correct results prove we are making our patient-centric values a norm. As the ultimate validation, results enshrine our daily performance and characterize our delivery model. They are the pivot on which the success of the Orthopedic Centre of Excellence's mission and vision rests.

The Center is home to the region's most advanced orthopedic services. Our Total Joints Replacement Centre is the first of its kind in the Middle East and one of only four worldwide, with the most extensive patient base from the Middle East and beyond for any private hospital in the region, leading the way in Robotic-assisted Surgery. (American Hospital Dubai was the first to offer the state-of-the-art ROSA® Robotic Knee Replacement System in Dubai.)

The mantle of excellence also motivates us to expand our horizons. Our Orthopedic Center is also a teaching force collaborating with leading medical entities to offer surgical training courses in orthopedics. It is a part of our commitment to support advanced educational opportunities for medical professionals in the UAE and the region.

Making a difference in healthcare is a continual endeavor. Ultimately, it is all about and for the patient. They inform our purpose, agenda, vision, strategy, and mission. I believe it is the foundation on which to build our performance.