Healthcare System Development and Primary Care in the United Arab Emirates
The healthcare system in the United Arab Emirates is characterized by a unique political organization where each of the seven Emirates is autonomous. In terms of healthcare provision, there are three main functional areas: healthcare financing, pooling of risk, and purchasing of healthcare. Following a public tender process, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Department of Health (DOH) Abu Dhabi signed an agreement with Aspen Medical to provide comprehensive primary healthcare clinics in six rural and underserved areas of Abu Dhabi and Al Ain. Aspen Medical won the contract to design, build, equip, staff, and operate six primary healthcare centers in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.
Primary Healthcare Initiatives and Local Impact
Aspen Medical’s Primary Healthcare Centers serve as an essential access point for local communities into the healthcare system. The six clinics, located between Abu Dhabi and Al Ain, provide primary healthcare for up to 60,000 residents in the region, bringing ongoing access to high-quality family medical services to these local communities. Our commitment to high-quality healthcare services is demonstrated by offering patients continuous, comprehensive, patient-centered, and value-driven care.
The clinics offer the following comprehensive services to the public:
- Family Medicine and General Medicine
- Pediatrics and Internal Medicine
- Dental, Obstetrics, and Gynecology
- Physiotherapy and Pharmacy
- Phlebotomy and Radiology, including x-rays and ultrasounds
The focus of these services is to provide early management of health conditions and increased access to primary healthcare to reduce the need for specialist care for our patients. Furthermore, our clinics, except for Wathba, are now authorized by the UAE Special Olympics as Unified Healthcare to provide treatment of players and the care of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Healthcare Financing and Payment Mechanisms
The healthcare financing of the emirate of Abu Dhabi comes from three sources. First, the UAE Ministry of finance provides healthcare financing from taxes collected from workers and businesses operating in the UAE. Secondly, the emirate receives financing from international organizations working in the UAE. The pooling of risks in the UAE takes place through social insurance and private insurance. Social healthcare insurance is a function of the Abu Dhabi government, while private health insurers provide healthcare funding as an insurance product for interested parties.
Regarding payment models, the two main typologies of provider payment methods are fixed or variable systems, and retrospective or prospective systems. In fixed systems, the funds remitted to the provider do not depend on the services offered, which makes planning more effective on the part of the provider. On the other hand, variable systems are sensitive to changes in demand for healthcare services. The purchase of healthcare in Abu Dhabi takes place in public hospitals, private hospitals, and in pharmacies.
Table 1: Healthcare Financing Structure in Abu Dhabi
| Financing Category | Source and Description |
|---|---|
| Public Financing | UAE Ministry of Finance via taxes from workers and businesses. |
| International Support | International organizations paying fees for employees and supporting local systems. |
| Risk Pooling | Social insurance (government) and private health insurers. |
Digital Transformation: The Malaffi Platform
Abu Dhabi's first health information exchange platform, Malaffi, which translates to "my file" in Arabic, has connected 95% of hospitals within the region that use electronic medical records to its system. This represents 55 out of 58 hospitals with EMR systems within the Emirate. Malaffi's platform facilitates real-time exchange of patient health information between healthcare providers, creating a centralised database of unified patient records. Through connecting key health information, over 35,000 doctors, nurses and other members of care teams have access to medical information such as patient visits, medical conditions, allergies, procedures, lab results, radiology reports and medications.
A user survey found that the most valuable benefits of the platform include reduction in duplication of laboratory and radiology investigations, as well as prevention of allergic reactions. Other benefits included Malaffi’s role in improving the speed of diagnosis, supporting clinical decision-making, and reducing medication duplications and errors, together with improving the efficiency of the healthcare system. This move aims to bring the Emirate of Abu Dhabi closer to its goal of connecting all of Abu Dhabi’s healthcare facilities.