The Dubai Health Authority and its health insurance regulatory body have together opened a digital-led healthcare programme, EJADAH, which it is hoped will become the foundation for value-based healthcare adoption across the country.

Digital healthcare is driven by quality outcomes

Saleh Al Hashimi, CEO of Dubai Health Insurance Corporation, said the programme would help to  improve the government’s understanding of the health sector by allowing it to oversee clinical, economic and human-centric outcomes.

“The model is driven by quality outcomes; it will put health consumers at the centre of the model, focus on preventive care, and reduce healthcare expenditure thus leading to healthcare sustainability,” said Al Hashimi. 

“By implementing an ecosystem that focuses on preventive care and patient-centred care, this cost can be significantly reduced,” said Dr. Mohamed Farghaly, consultant for the DHIC and EJADAH project lead.

The platform will monitor KPI’s which will enable quicker claim approvals, lower the volume of waste and allow healthcare workers to focus on their patients - particularly in the zone of preventative care.

Digital healthcare in Dubai sets the standard

Other healthcare professionals from across Dubai are participating in the project, to share their ideas and expertise. 

“We believe that value-based healthcare truly has the potential to simultaneously improve patient outcomes as well as help address the sustainability challenges facing healthcare systems in the region,” said Karim Samy, Medical Director and Personalised Healthcare Lead for Roche Pharmaceuticals in the United Arab Emirates. “EJADAH will work towards ensuring that Dubai’s healthcare sector becomes more sustainable and patient-centric going forward, with incentivising improvements in value – rather than volume – through alternative payment models. It will no doubt also pave the way and inspire other territories in the region to consider similar approaches.”

“Dubai has consistently raised the bar in terms of development and growth, implementing global best practices that have garnered the attention of global cities. This is an important project that aims to increase efficiency, efficacy, and safety whilst utilising best-practices and methodologies,” said Ahmed Fadl, General Manager at Merck Gulf. “Both qualitative and quantitative improvement has become critical in healthcare today, and the EJADAH program improvements will further increase the quality and address the costs while allowing access to next-generation technology.”