All clinics, medical centres and polyclinics operating in the country have been urged to register on Dhamani insurance platform before March 31, as part of the 2nd wave of the 1st phase of the implementation, according to the Financial Services Authority (FSA).
Dhamani is an electronic platform that facilitates medical treatment approvals and direct payment processes, facilitates exchange of information, claim settlements, fund transfers, requests for approvals and verification for private healthcare institutions; and audit of insurance coverage between regulators and supervisors instituted by the Financial Services Authority under the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion. It was officially launched on October 1, 2024.
In accordance with the Regulation for Health Insurance Electronic Link, as specified in Ministerial Decision 83/2023, the deadline for private medical establishments to register is March 31 and institutions failing to meet the deadline will be removed from the networks of health service providers affiliated with insurance companies, this exclusion will affect their ability to offer insured services, potentially impacting not only their business operations but also prevent them from offering insurance-backed health services to their clients.
“Dhamani platform is aimed at enhancing the quality of insurance services provided in the country and the level of transparency in all transactions; and is a significant advancement in health insurance technology due to its positive impact. We, at the Financial Services Authority has set a deadline for all private hospitals and clinics offering insurance-backed services to connect with the Dhamani platform, and those who fail to comply with the guidelines will be treated accordingly,” said Ahmed Salim al Harrasi, DG, Market Prudential and Development at FSA.
“With Dhamani, we aim at helping in providing accurate data on market conditions, to minimise fraud, abuse and misuse of transactions and to uphold transparency. All private health facilities are strongly encouraged to contact the Dhamani platform team for support with the registration process,” Al Harrasi said.
Dr Hatim Dawood al Lawati, Digital Economy Consultant and the In-Charge of Dhamani Platform (Project & Operation) at the FSA said that Dhamani is already done with the onboarding of all private hospitals in the country and the next wave includes clinics, polyclinics and medical centres.
“We would like to remind the clinics, medical centres and polyclinics operating in the country to register on the Dhamani Platform by March 31, 2025 and the mandatory transactions would start by June 1, 2025. All healthcare providers must carry out their transactions with payers and TPAs exclusively through Dhamani and they need to act now to ensure compliance,” said Al Lawati.
There are five main areas of services for a patient when he or she approaches a medical facility, opines Wail Humaid al Kalbani, Acting Director for Health Insurance Department.
“From the very moment the patient approaches the reception counter, to the doctor to the procedure room to the pharmacy, the rights of both the end user and the medical facility need to be protected.
However, there has been the challenge of managing the change from traditional way off handling the patients with insurance coverage and in processing the documentation which was time consuming and for a patient seeking medical help, it was unimaginable.
“We had to face a lot of challenges, resistance to change from various corners,” says Said al Saidi, Team Leader of Change Management at the FSA. “However, our team managed to overcome the various challenges by identifying the root causes of resistance; and educating and training the concerned parties, creating awareness campaigns, removing barriers to change and by communicating the benefits of change to the various stakeholders,” adds Al Saidi.
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