RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s health ministry on Monday launched the Kingdom’s first virtual hospital as part of ongoing efforts to digitalize the healthcare sector.

With a growing live network of 130 connected hospitals, SEHA Virtual Hospital (SVH) is the largest of its kind in the world. The only other virtual hospital to rival it is in the US, with 43 connected hospitals.

Saudi health minister Fahad Al-Jalajel attended the inauguration ceremony in Riyadh.

Patients of SVH will no longer need to travel to different parts of the Kingdom to be seen by specialized physicians, nor will they be limited by 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. clinical hours.

An official told Arab News that patients can now receive second and third medical opinions from the same consulting room.

Unlike simple video calls with doctors, SVH allows patients to visit their local hospital and attend a real-time live video clinical session with top specialists from across the Kingdom. During the session, vitals signs can be shared momentarily, while tests and X-rays can also be taken and shared with the network of specialists.

Emergency interventions can be provided round the clock, and real-time consultations with top specialists will also guide local junior staff in dealing with complex cases.

SVH covers 12 main specialties and more than 35 subspecialties, including hospital-at-home follow-ups, where chronically ill patients, from the comfort of their homes, can stay connected with doctors.

Citing evidence of SVH capabilities, Mona Al-Subaie, acting executive director of SVH, recalled the case of a 23-year-old male patient suffering from an abnormality in his voice. He was referred to SVH by local doctors due to the Asir region lacking a specialist in that area.

After two virtual sessions with an SVH specialized speech-language pathologist, the patient was diagnosed as suffering from a hyper-functional voice disorder, which having been undetected, had severely impacted his quality of life.