Background: The referral process has a central role within health care systems, acting as a gateway to those requiring certain methods of care and services. The main objective of our study was to assess the trends of referrals across the regions of Saudi Arabia during a four-year period from 2018 to 2021 involving a total of more than 1·6 million referrals. Methods: We conducted a retrospective observational study design of referral data submitted by practitioners from different facilities across all regions within Saudi Arabia. Data was obtained from the Saudi Medical Appointments and Referrals Centre (SMARC) over a four-year timeline from 2018 to 2021, with data including the type of referral, reason for referral, and the required specialty. Results: A total of 1,607,009 referrals across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia were analyzed. The overall number of referrals have increased dramatically throughout the years with an increase of 55% from the year 2018 to 2021, with most referrals being routine (938,467) (58·3%) composed of inpatient and outpatient types of referrals (Figure 1A). Unavailability of required specialty by the primary provider was the most popular reason for referral (897,461) (55·8%), with General Surgery contributing to the majority of referrals (430,664) (26·7%) (Figures 2A, 3A). Referrals initiated from 2019 to 2021 had an acceptance rate of 55·3% with the remaining being either closed (43·3%) or rejected (0·5%). The nationality of the individual requiring a referral was most likely Saudi, contributing to a total of (1,109,254) (84.8%) referrals from 2019 to 2021 (Tables 4A-4B). Conclusions: Upon assessing trends of referrals across regions of Saudi Arabia, we observed a major increase in referrals starting from the year 2018 to 2021, potentially inflicting harm on the sustainability of high-quality health systems. Further actions should be taken to assess the appropriateness of referrals made, which could aid in identifying areas of inefficiencies and possible rate reduction.

Background In recent years, the utilization of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has increased dramatically with the launch of vision 2030 in Saudi Arabia (SA). Vision 2030 is a quality-driven mission set to make SA one of the most efficient countries in healthcare. SA has launched several initiatives for the national digitalization mission. The Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) has been established for that purpose, other entities including the National Healthcare Command and Control Center (NHCCC). The most successful and promising application of AI so far is in diagnostic radiology and conceptualizing a personalized health plan. With the current trend in precision medicine, AI will be a valuable asset in producing an individualized healthcare plan. The potential for AI has been amplified throughout the Covid-19 pandemic and has accelerated the agenda for an immediate execution plan. In each phase of the pandemic, AI has been integral to identifying novel strains of the virus, undergoing containment measures, and assisting in the public’s adherence to them. This review explores the potential of AI in healthcare, its drawbacks, and the role of AI in the national health transformation mission launched by SA. Despite the potential of AI in healthcare, it has significant limitations, mainly the lack of institutional resources and inadequate training of healthcare workers. Summary The potential of AI is nearly limitless, but only a fraction of its capabilities have been explored. SA has launched several initiatives to utilize AI in healthcare, including multiple health mobile apps, telemedicine, and electronic medical health records. These initiatives formed a cornerstone in helping SA handle the pandemic more efficiently.

Introduction: New technologies in the field of learning and teaching the various scopes of medicine are being embraced now more than ever by learners and students, understanding the changes, the requirements, and the need for such tools is essential in the process of providing the proper materials most efficiently. Understanding the shift from traditional use of resources to the use of FOAMED among Saudi emergency medicine residents is important in the implementation and improvement of contemporary FOAMED tools in Saudi Arabia. In this study we aim to investigate the phenomenon called FOAMED to improve its implementation and widen its scope. Although this is becoming popular, published articles investigating its driving factors among learners have been limited. Methodology: A cross sectional study among emergency medicine residents in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; targeting 322 EM (emergency medicine) residents with a sample size of 175. An online questionnaire, previously validated and used by Jeff Riddell et. al (7), was sent to all the residents in all levels through email and WhatsApp groups from January 2020 to September 2020. Data were analyzed using the latest version of SPSS. The Research Ethics Committee at King Saud University Hospital approved the study (IRB No. E-20-5596). Results: Of the 322 EM residents in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 201 residents responded and completed the questionnaire with a response rate of 62.4% (201 out of 322). The two most commonly used podcasts are EMCrack with 18.1% (94/201) and EM: RAP with 11.7% (61/201) respectively. Nearly a third 29.4% (59/201) of the total number of respondents said that they do not listen to podcasts followed by 23.9% (48/201) who listen to podcasts once a month. For the ideal length of time for an emergency medicine podcast, 30.8% (n=62/201) answered 11-20 minutes, followed by 28.9% (n=58/201) who answered 21-30 minutes. The top two reasons why residents stopped listening were “It was too long” (35.7%, n = 105/201) as well as “It was too boring;” (27.6%, n = 81/356). Highest number of residents reported that their motivation to listen to EM podcasts is “Board Review” with 21.5% (n=87/201). Conclusion: The results of our study suggested that most residents preferred to listen to podcasts of less than 30 minutes in length, which was consistent with previous studies. The main motivation for listening to podcasts among EM residents was for “Board Review”, which emphasizes the need to keep up with the newer and contemporary ways of learning among FOAMED creators in Saudi Arabia.