Dubai, September 24, 2013: Global Hawk Imaging, Diagnostics (GHID) and Telemedicine Services, the premium healthcare division under the UAE-based multinational conglomerate Mulk Holdings, has won the prestigious International Star Quality Award 2014 in Medicine for offering the most innovative radiology and telemedicine services in the Middle East.

Dr. Nawab Shafi Ul Mulk, Director of GHID and Mulk Healthcare Division, received the coveted ISQA at a ceremony organized by Business Initiative Directions (B.I.D) at the B.I.D. International Quality Convention in Geneva – Switzerland recently. The internationally acclaimed award comes in recognition of the excellence in quality, service and innovation offered by the chain of GHID centres in the UAE.

GHID is the region’s one of the biggest private multi-disciplinary referral diagnostics facility, which was unveiled in Dubai in 2011. With its in-house tele-radiology service, provided under the umbrella of Global Hawk Telemedicine, GHID is the region’s only ‘twin concept’ diagnostic service provider, and the UAE’s only Tele-radiology solutions provider, approved by the Dubai Health Authority (DHA).

The International BID Quality Award is designed to recognize the prestige of the outstanding companies, organizations, and leaders in the business world. GHID has been selected for the award, based on the TQM100 and ISO9000 criteria, which include total quality management and continuous medical education programs for radiologists and medical professionals.

Upon receiving the award, Dr. Mulk, said, “We are extremely proud of receiving the global quality star award. At Mulk Holdings, we are deeply committed to quality and innovation. All of our services are driven on this model and we aim to constantly excel at it. These accolade stands not only as a stamp of our success but also as a continued assurance of our commitment towards excellence. This has helped us set even higher quality benchmarks for ourselves for the future.”

“Creating a great impact on healthcare sector in the region, the GHID’s ‘twin concept’ international service has been well-received by the medical fraternity in the region. Introducing the concept in 2008, GHID incorporated the latest medical technologies, aimed at providing diagnostics and tele-radiology services in record turn-around reporting time of 30 minutes for local diagnostics with second opinions from global radiology experts. This is in addition to implementing other global benchmarks,” he added.

“By introducing the unique combination of internet and digital radiology in the region, GHID and the Telemedicine division have been pioneers in the segment. Based on the success of this model in the UAE, we aim to expand our operations offering the concept across the globe,” Dr. Mulk further said.

Commenting on winning the global recognition, Mr. Nawab Shaji Ul Mulk, Chairman of Mulk Holdings, said, “We are very honored to be recognized by BID, which is a highly-reputed international quality board. Mulk Group is planning to invest AED 250 million to expand its healthcare division, setting up two hospitals in the UAE — including one 75-bed multispecialty Mulk Hospital in Dubai soon and another 75-bed hospital in the Northern Emirates. We will also roll out 10 more GHID Centres across the GCC and North African region, having a total of 12 premium facilities in the GHID chain. We are extremely grateful to the visionary Rulers, Government entities and the local community in the UAE for extending their support and encouragement to us.”

Dr. Mulk said, “We installed the first prototype ‘Mulk‎ Digitizer’ at Global Hawk Telemedicine office in Hamriyah Free Zone. We later moved to Dubai Airport Freezone Authority. Stepping away from the conventional diagnostic model, the focus of our tele-radiology service has been on digitizing x-ray and CT imaging technologies. The computer compatible images are sent online to radiologists in other parts of the world, to generate reports and reverting to the physicians who require the service.”

“We further enhanced the efficiency of the system, enabling our Centre to provide the unique service — reading and diagnosing radiology images for a number of hospitals and medical facilities across the UAE and the Middle East. The concept of tele-radiology gained momentum very soon and is now emerging as a revolutionary medical service model globally, in line with the latest developments in the digital technology sphere,” he explained.

GHID provides high quality and rapid sub-specialty radiology interpretations from an expert panel of trained subspecialist radiologists from around the world. The range of services includes Open MRI, 16 Slice CT SCAN, General Digital Radiography, 4D Ultrasound / Doppler; Fetal Imaging, CAD Mammography, Bone Densitometry and Digital OPG; in addition to laboratory services like Pathology, Histopathology, Microbiology, Immunology, and Biochemistry.

Mulk Holdings and its Joint Venture partners own and manage a group of 19 companies having diversified business interests spread globally across 48 countries. The Group forayed into the healthcare sector in 2011.