Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Ramadan 17, 1445 H
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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Oman’s e-platform for mandatory health insurance by mid-2020

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Regulations setting out the groundwork for the launch of the Dhamani electronic platform —which will serve as the vehicle for the roll-out of the Unified Health Insurance System in the Sultanate — will be published in the near future, according to officials of the Capital Market Authority (CMA).


The procurement of the electronic platform is already under way and is expected to be completed this year, thereby enabling the prospective vendor to implement the first phase of the system within a few months thereafter, said Ahmed Ali al Maamari (pictured), CMA Vice-President for Insurance. Speaking to the Observer, Al Maamari said the CMA has been working on introducing compulsory health insurance in Oman for private sector employees and visitors to the country.


“We have been working in coordination with the related parties to build the required infrastructure, both on the regulatory as well as the system sides of the initiative. Part of it is to utilise the technology in the health industry and introduce Dhamani platform, which will be integrated with all the concerned parties, such as the healthcare providers, insurance providers and the government sector such as the Ministry of Manpower, the Capital Market Authority and the Ministry of Health.”


The official made the comments on the sidelines of the Oman Health Exhibition and Conference, which opened at the Oman Convention and Exhibition Centre yesterday.


According to the official, the purpose of this electronic platform system is to digitalise the private healthcare system and health insurance services in Oman, as well as enhance the monitoring of the overall system in Oman.


“The objective is to monitor the cost of the health system and the quality of services offered by the healthcare providers to the policy holders,” he stated.


The CMA is aiming for mid-2020 timeframe to launch the e-healthcare system, providing the basis for the eventual rollout of mandatory health insurance services in the Sultanate. “It is a huge project and we are going to launch it gradually, but the Dhamani platform itself is expected to be launched in the middle of next year,” Al Maamari said.


“The Dhamani platform will also help us move away from paper economy and make the billing process quicker, while all transactions can also be monitored, and data of which can be used for analysis. For best practices and proper governance the non-personalised data will only be accessible to specified authority and stake holders.”


The CMA has been closely working with the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Manpower, the private sector, and the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry, in planning the implementation of the Dhamani insurance scheme, he said.


“We will begin with the international companies and then gradually move on to other companies. Also we are going to delay the implementation for SMEs at this initial stage, and accordingly, we are in coordination with Riyada to find the right way to introduce the compulsory health insurance on SMEs.”


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