NABIDH Policies 101: Demystifying the Authentication Policy

Healthcare, just like any other sector, is constantly transforming. Digital innovation, evolving health landscapes, and growing emphasis on patient-centered care have been the forces driving advancements in healthcare. Most of all, use of Electronic Medical Records (EMR) has allowed healthcare to grow beyond perceived limits, opening up new possibilities for better healthcare delivery. Pioneering efforts are being made in Dubai to integrate all healthcare facilities and providers over a common platform- NABIDH Integration is a revolutionary system that unifies all healthcare facilities in Dubai, providing seamless access to patients’ health records on a centralized platform. Healthcare practitioners across Dubai are therefore empowered with comprehensive, up-to-date patient information, including their medical history. With this treasure trove of medical data, quite literally in their fingertips, healthcare providers are now well-equipped to deliver quick and precise treatments and achieve considerably better health outcomes.

What are NABIDH Policies?

NABIDH policies are a set of regulations and standards formulated by the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) to facilitate and govern health information exchange between healthcare providers. NABIDH compliance is mandatory for all healthcare providers in Dubai to be part of the NABIDH program, and to have access to NABIDH EMR.

Authentication Policy & Its  Role in NABIDH Integration

The Authentication and Authorization policy is one of the most critical NABIDH policies meant to ensure that only authorized users and certified applicants can access and exchange health information through NABIDH.

Easy access to NABIDH EMR also means a high risk of compromise of sensitive health data. Addressing this risk is essential to optimize the benefits of NABIDH, and this is what the Authorization and Authentication policy aims to do. It limits exchange of health information to individuals who have a genuine professional requirement to access patient records. Moreover, this policy also serves to instill confidence in the privacy of patients’ health information.

 Authentication Policy: A More Detailed View

Besides being a NABIDH compliance requirement, the Authentication policy is also a potent security strategy. It covers all authentication and authorization requirements to be fulfilled by healthcare providers, thereby ensuring secure exchange of patient information over the NABIDH platform. Here’s how:

• It helps maintain the highest degree of health information security by ensuring that healthcare facilities adhere to all applicable authentication and authorization standards prescribed by DHA.
• It ensures role-based authorization. This means that all NABIDH users are authorized based on their specific job functions. The levels of authorization are also determined based on their specific roles. This way, each individual user’s access to NABIDH EMR varies, and is limited to their role requirements.  
• It helps maintain data integrity by mandating an effective node authentication mechanism. All nodes where health information exchanges take place in a healthcare facility are required to implement secure authentication processes to make sure only authorized individuals can access NABIDH EMR.
• It supports emergency access to health information, allowing care providers to obtain the required data during situations that warrant urgent medical action. However, the policy ensures that such emergency access is governed by comprehensive audit and review processes.
• It requires healthcare facilities to develop and implement access control policies and protocols to ensure safe access to health data, prevent unauthorized access, and also to train authorized users to follow security protocols while accessing health data.
• It ensures that all access privileges are immediately terminated upon an employee’s termination. This helps prevent misuse of NABIDH EMR.
• It requires not just healthcare providers, but also patients to follow an authentication process to access their own health information. Patients have to maintain a confidential password, and promptly report any compromises. 

This all-encompassing nature of the authentication policy makes it the perfect method to maintain full control over the security of health information.

Why NABIDH’s Authentication Policy is Noteworthy

This policy is a prerequisite to NABIDH’s security framework. It governs health information exchange by setting stringent authentication and authorization standards to ensure that only the right people have access to sensitive health data. While on one hand this protects the privacy of patient health records, on the other it acts as a pillar holding up the integrity and trustworthiness of Dubai’s healthcare system.

NABIDH policies and standards enable secure exchange of health information with the confidence that patient privacy remains a top priority. As healthcare facilities in Dubai continue to adapt themselves to this new model of health information exchange, NABIDH policies act as a leading force in instilling confidence and paving the way for enhanced healthcare delivery. The Authentication and Authorization Policy facilitates this by providing an effective way for healthcare providers to have secure and seamless access to patient health records.  

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is NABIDH and why is NABIDH integration necessary?

NABIDH is a system of unifying healthcare facilities in Dubai to enable better healthcare delivery using a centralized platform to store and exchange patient health information. NABIDH integration is necessary, as it empowers healthcare providers by offering a comprehensive view of patients’ health with up-to-date information, diagnoses, and medical histories, enabling them to better customize treatment plans and improve health outcomes.

 

2. What is the role of the Authentication Policy in NABIDH Integration?

This policy ensures that only authorized individuals in a healthcare facility have access to sensitive health information. It also limits the access and exchange of health information by providing role-based authorization so that only the right people have access to relevant data for their professional requirement. This way the policy safeguards the privacy of patient information.

 

3. How does the Authentication Policy enhance security in healthcare data exchange?

This policy ensures strict security measures such as role-based authorization, secure node authentication, and clear access control protocols are put in place in every healthcare facility. Moreover, it also requires that access to terminated employees is removed immediately upon their termination. This way the policy enhances data security and maintains integrity of data.

 

4. What is role-based authorization?

This refers to limiting user access to data based on their specific job function. NABIDH’s Authentication Policy ensures that users can access NABIDH EMR only to the extent that their roles necessitate. This helps maintain the security and integrity of health data.

 

5. Is there an authentication process that NABIDH recommends for patients?

Yes, the Authentication Policy requires patients to follow an authentication process to access their own health information. They should maintain a confidential password and promptly report any compromises to make sure their data is always protected.