The doctor will tweet you now

Patients in Dubai will soon be able to review their appointments and check their lab results with a single touch of their iPhone or iPad.

DUBAI // Patients in Dubai will soon be able to review their appointments and check their lab results with a single touch.

A new Dubai Health Authority (DHA) iPhone and iPad application will list all government hospitals, their contact information and services, said Khawla Lootah, the head of the corporate applications section at the DHA.

Parents will be able to see their children's vaccination details and receive an alert or update every time a booster shot is due, Ms Lootah said.

Patients can also call up their medical test results.

The application will be available at the App Store within the next two to three weeks, Ms Lootah said.

Meanwhile, health professionals will be able to obtain a licence to work in Dubai through an online regulatory system.

Qadhi Saeed Al Murooshid, the director general of the DHA, said the online system, Sheryan, provides a paperless environment for health licensing.

"It saves time and is cost-effective because healthcare practitioners no longer need to come to Dubai to apply for a licence or take exams," Mr Al Murooshid said.

Applicants will be screened for credentials, including experience and education, said Dr Ramadan Ibrahim, the director of health regulation at the DHA.

Credentials will be checked through a system called primary source verification, for which the authority has given an international company the responsibility to ensure each credential is valid.

Applicants who meet the preliminary criteria set by the DHA will be required to take an online exam in one of 300 approved centres across 130 countries.

They will find out electronically whether they have qualified.

Investors who would like to set up a medical centre in Dubai can also use the online system to apply.

Dr Ibrahim said healthcare centre inspection results would also be available online.

Twenty-five inspectors who make daily visits to the emirate's hospitals and clinics would be able to log in their evaluations and register violations through iPhone and iPad applications.

"It will all be done electronically, and the fines will be issued right then and there," Dr Ibrahim said.

The authority also launched its Twitter and Facebook pages yesterday as part of its community outreach.

The pages will carry news and events, such as free screenings and awareness campaigns. Visitors can also provide feedback on the sites.