Ministry of Health organises workshop on improving methodology of causes of death documentation

Muscat: The Ministry of Health (MOH) has organised a two-day training workshop on improving causes of death documentation methodology, with support and partnership of the World Health Organization (WHO), Sultan Qaboos University (SQU), and the Oman Medical Specialty Board (OMSB). The workshop began today, Sunday at Avani hotel.

H.E. Dr. Saeed Harib Al Lamki, MOH's Undersecretary for Health Affairs patronised the event, with the presence of H.E. Dr. John Jabbour, WHO Representative of Oman, and Dr. Qasim Al Salmi, MOH’s Director General of Planning and Studies, in addition to the participation of various health, civil, and military sectors.

The workshop targeted physicians and medical coders in the hospitals, as well as relevant health workers.

The event commenced with a speech by the WHO Representative of Oman, where he stressed the importance of death data and statistics for their multiple uses in supporting the health system, monitoring public health, evaluating health interventions, planning and following up health care services, in addition to their wide uses in medical research. Data on causes of death by age and gender is essential for health decision-making, he elaborated, noting that countries assign substantial resources to collecting, comparing and analysing causes of death.

This training workshop aims to improve the skills of physicians and medical coders and then uploading the training material after approval to an electronic platform with the aim of making it available to a larger number of target audience, in coordination and cooperation with OMSB. The project is the result of collaborative efforts among a number of multi-sectoral institutions to develop a sustainable electronic platform for improving quality of death data.

The concept of the workshop, significance, and goals were highlighted: A working paper on clinical documentation in the patient's file and medical coding of morbidity and mortality.

The workshop will further discuss key reports and indicators related to deaths, and the quality of correct attestation, as well as touch on important definitions and basic elements in the health file and death notification.