Bashar Balish , CIO of Cerner ’ s strategic partnership with the UAE Ministry of Health , discusses the digital transformation of the healthcare industry

A world without medical error is , for many people , an impossible dream . In 2017 , the World Health Organisation estimated the global cost of medication-related errors at US $ 42bn annually . In the United States , medical error accounts for anywhere between 210,000 and 400,000 deaths per year – making it the third largest cause of mortality in the country , according to a report by Patient Safety America . However , Missouri-based healthcare information technology ( IT ) company Cerner Corporation is working toward the goal of a world without medical error . “ We consider ourselves to be a healthcare company more than an IT company . Our focus is on healthcare and helping the organizations we serve to mature and materialize the value of the healthcare IT in their industry ,” says Bashar Balish , MD , Chief Information Officer ( CIO ) of the strategic partnership between Cerner and the UAE MOHAP .