A GROUP of Saudi doctors have launched a free smartphone application to facilitate communication among physicians of all specialties. The app helps physicians provide innovative solutions to improve healthcare services in the Kingdom. One of the most important objectives of this application is to provide an innovative medical learning environment based on a patient's medical condition. The app provides a unified workflow platform across different electronic medical records and manages referrals on the go through a referral network. It helps physicians and matches patients to clinically appropriate and readily available providers. Dr. Sami Al-Silami, an emergency and ICU consultant, came up with the idea of this non-profit application. Around 1,000 physicians, of whom 411 are consultants, joined the application three days after it was released. Also, 150 consultations have so far been provided through this application. Saudi Telecom Company and the Council of Health Specialties are supporting this application as part of their social responsibility programs. Although I, like most of you, have reservations about the services provided by telecom companies and hospitals and the way they treat customers and patients, I will support this technological initiative and thank the physician who made it happen. Any efforts to improve the healthcare sector as well as the way healthcare professionals treat patients and reduce medical errors should be highly commended and supported. The application makes it easy for physicians to exchange expertise and information about the medical conditions of patients. That is why big companies should carefully select the initiatives that they are going to support and finance. They should focus on initiatives that will bring long-term benefits to society and improve lifestyles and people's standards of living. By adopting such initiatives the companies will have achieved two goals: The first is the benefit and advantages society will receive from such initiatives. The second is the level of publicity the companies will get, which will reflect positively on their overall business and profits.
