The authority will have two new subsidiaries - Dubai Healthcare Corporation and Dubai Health Insurance Corporation.
Dubai - Hospitals will also have independent structures with increased accountability of hospitals that further improve patient safety and experience.
Published: Sun 20 May 2018, 9:15 PM
Last updated: Sun 20 May 2018, 11:22 PM
By setting up the Dubai Insurance Corporation, the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) will cater to the expanding industry that currently provides health insurance to nearly five million people (98 per cent) of the population and plans to provide cover to visitors coming to the emirate soon.
Already, the DHA hospitals in the emirate accept all insurance cards.
Hospitals will also have independent structures with increased accountability of hospitals that further improve patient safety and experience.
In a media meet on Sunday, Humaid Al Qutami, director-general of the DHA, outlined the authority's recent restructuring and some of the outcomes it would have on the future of healthcare in the emirate.
Recently Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of The Executive Council of Dubai, issued Executive Council Resolution No. (18) of 2018 approving the new organisational structure of the DHA.
In line with the new DHA law, the authority will have two new subsidiaries - Dubai Healthcare Corporation and Dubai Health Insurance Corporation.
"The health insurance sector has a Dh7 billion market and over 50 health insurance companies. With my team, we have achieved the completion of the mandatory health insurance scheme with over 98 per cent of the population now has access to essential health services," said Al Qutami.
"Plans are also underway to extend the health insurance coverage to include visitors to Dubai. There was a need to have a separate corporation for health insurance given the scope of service and the vast number of people it affects," he said.
"The corporation will help regulate the insurance market, create a conducive environment for growth and help maximise benefits to customers as well as protect their interest. At the same time, it will also keep the interest of the insurance companies and third party administrators in mind. The insurance sector is a robust sector and the establishment of the corporation will not only benefit stakeholders but also positively contribute to the economy of Dubai," he added.
The corporation is responsible for managing and overseeing health insurance services in Dubai according to relevant legislation. It also seeks to ensure quality health insurance for Dubai's citizens, residents and visitors, protect the rights of policyholders, and design health insurance packages.
It will also license and regulate health insurance companies, claims management companies, insurance brokers and service providers. It is also responsible for managing the Dubai Government's health insurance programme and issuing reports and recommendations related to health insurance and health economics.
Specialised care
Al Qutami emphasised that provision of high-quality specialised care, patient safety and satisfaction are at the core of the authority's priorities. "The medical sector in Dubai is one of largest sectors with 31 hospitals, around 3,700 private health clinics that have around 35,000 employees with more than eight million patient visits annually in the private sector," he said while giving an overview.
Additionally, there are 40 DHA governmental health facilities (DHA hospitals, primary healthcare centres, medical fitness and specialised healthcare centres) with around 13,000 employees that see around four million customers annually. "Such a large sector needs streamlining and governance framework to enhance efficiencies and further improve patient care, which is our key area," he said.
"The new structure provides us with an ideal business and operating model to achieve our objectives," he added.
According to the new organisational structure, Dubai Healthcare Corporation (DHC) is tasked with managing and operating all government healthcare facilities including primary healthcare centres, specialty centres, medical fitness services centres, and public and occupational medical centres.
The DHC has three subsidiary sectors - primary healthcare services specialised healthcare services, and medical support services and nursing.
"All health service provisions are part of this corporation and the idea is to ensure optimum functioning of health entities keeping the primary goal of patient care, safety and satisfaction in mind," he said.
Each DHA hospital will have its own structure that will be announced in September.
"Taking into account several factors such as the area of their specialisation etc., health services have its own nuances depending on the type of provision of care. Thus, individualised plans in terms of structure, functioning etc. will lead to the provision of specialised care and enhance hospital management functions as well," he added.
The overall structure also includes three new strategic sectors: Strategy and Corporate Development, Health Regulation and Shared Corporate Support Services.
Health regulation sector
The health regulation sector is tasked with developing licensing regulations for individuals and establishments in Dubai including in free zones; inspecting healthcare service providers and ensuring they comply with laws and regulations; and preparing and approving frameworks for managing health data in Dubai.
"Transparency and accountability are key to high-quality healthcare services and the regulation sector plays a key role to achieve this. We will implement easier medical regulation processes in line with international best practices. We are also working on revamping the health governance structure, which will result in increased accountability of hospitals and further improve patient safety and experience," he added.
The total number of health professional licences increased by 15 per cent and the number of licensed facilities increased by about 27 per cent. "We have achieved a big leap in the number of health facilities that are internationally accredited. Currently, 96 per cent of hospitals in Dubai have completed their international accreditation, which is a significant jump from 80 per cent in 2015," said Al Qutami.
The number of physicians per 10,000 of the population has reached 33 exceeding the national level (27) and approaching the level achieved by Sweden (39).
Investment strategy
To further boost investment in the health sector, the DHA recently introduced a health investment strategy for the emirate.
"Our aim is to foster and promote health investment in areas where there are lack of services or where there are opportunities for growth. Several countries have dedicated healthcare investment promotion agencies and I feel it is a better and more efficient way to operate. An investment strategy helps prevent oversupply, leads to availability of health specialists across various disciplines and fosters the growth and development of specialised and super-specialised health services," he added.
"For investors, it means easy access to information, support and guidance, at the same time we are benefitting the health sector by providing services that are in need."
Healthcare trends in the upcoming year
A higher percentage of the geriatric population which means more holistic services for the elderly, a rise in the UAE population, which again means a sound capacity planning to meet the needs of the increasing population.
"There will be automated care at hospital set-ups due to emerging technologies which will improve efficiency. At the same time, we can already see the emergence of precision medicine and personalised care, especially as technology such as genetic testing becomes cheaper."
Patients will be empowered with knowledge due to smart technologies such as wearable devices that can track their fitness, apps etc. Patients will be more engaged and knowledgeable in the management of their own health, enhancing preventive care measures. Employers will focus on wellness programmes as health and wellness begin to take centre stage.
Wellness holidays in the cards
Dubai's goal is to keep continuing to position itself as the global destination for health tourism through a combination of world-class infrastructure, cutting-edge technology and expert medical practitioners.
Today, Dubai is able to appeal to a wider audience who may be on the lookout for more wellbeing-related treatments in line with international benchmarks.
The Health Tourism Council is collaborating with partners to enhance the patient experience. The Dubai Health Authority (DHA) and the General Directorate of Residency and Foreign Affairs Dubai (GDRFA-Dubai) will promote medical tourism in Dubai and ease visa procedures for medical tourists opting for Dubai for health and wellness treatments.
The Health Tourism Council is also collaborating with Emirates Holidays to provide visitors tailor-made health and wellness holidays in Dubai.
Health centres go paperless
With the implementation of electronic medical record (EMR) across all DHA hospitals and health centres a paperless health system is being created. More than 1.4 million patient medical records and more than 112 million transactions have been transferred to the Salama system.
Several health apps that will benefit the public have been launched. All DHA hospitals and primary health care centres are internationally accredited by JCIA including 96 per cent of the emirate's hospitals.
Potential in new healthcare technologies such as 3D printing, AI, blockchain etc have given meaningful results.
The School Health Policy and the Hasana unified immunisation system was launched which will provide access to unified immunisation records at any facility and will ensure availability of relevant data.
It will also enable the DHA to lay the foundation for the population health management system to manage and contain spread of communicable diseases. All private schools in Dubai will now use the Hasana system.
The mental health strategy has also been launched along with the investment strategy and soon strategies for Non Communicable Diseases (NCDs) and Communicable Diseases (CDs). Health Tourism will also be launched.
DHA's investment focus for the next 2-3 years
> Innovations in primary care
> Ambulatory care
> Urgent care clinics
> Mental health
> Chronic disease management
> Tertiary care for diabetes, cardiology and oncology
> Diagnostic health and remote monitoring
> Rehabilitation and physical therapy
> Home-based care
> Long-term and extended care
DHA's investment focus for the next 3-5 years
> Prevention and pharmacy beyond-the-pill
> Precision Medicine and Genetics
> Population health management
> Nursing homes and palliative care
asmaalizain@khaleejtimes.com
Health for all
Easy access to medical advice and services is vital for healthy societies. Authorities in Dubai took a seminal step earlier by mandating health insurance for all. Now by setting up Dubai Insurance Corporation, it is ensuring ease of services to all. Dubai has exemplary medical facilities, infrastructure and now the next logical step is to ensure minimal grievances and maximum coverage.
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