NABIDH Policy Framework & Its Role in Protecting Patient Health

Dubai Health Authority (DHA) has been a pioneer in centralizing health information exchange through its transformative NABIDH platform. Short for National Backbone for Integrated Dubai Health, NABIDH acts as the perfect platform for healthcare providers to exchange patient health information. DHA has formulated a set of policies and standards to govern and regulate the use of NABIDH. This NABIDH policy framework plays a vital role in enhancing healthcare delivery and improving patient health outcomes.

How the NABIDH Policy Framework Protects Patient Health & Improves Experience

DHA’s vision for Dubai’s healthcare is to build a futuristic, efficient, and effective system, in which health information flows seamlessly between healthcare providers.  This vision translates to specific healthcare goals, including:

• Easy and seamless access to patient health information to enable better healthcare delivery and patient health outcomes.
• Enhanced patient experience through paperless consultations, timely and prompt care, and personalized treatment plans.
• Quicker and more accurate diagnosis resulting from a wholistic view of the patients’ health.
• Minimized chances of medical errors or wrong diagnosis.
• Better control for patients over their personal health and treatment plans.
• Choice to opt out of NABIDH, if the patient is not comfortable with sharing identifiable information over the platform.

Elements of the NABIDH Policy Framework that Safeguard Patient Health

The framework plays a key role in safeguarding patient health through its robust policies and standards. A few of the policies that lend themselves to improved patient safety, include:

1. Consent and Access Control Policy

The Consent and Access Control Policy defines who and how individuals and systems can access NABIDH data. It defines the circumstances in which a patient can permit or withhold the use and disclosure of health information over NABIDH.

2. Identity Management Policy

The Identity Management Policy ensures that systems and individuals using NABIDH are identified through reliable security processes and protocols.

3. Authentication Policy

The role of this policy is to ensure that only authorized individuals and systems have access to NABIDH.  The Identity Management and Authentication Policy together help prevent unauthorized access or misuse of sensitive patient information.

4. Health Data Quality Policy

This policy is ensures that the health data collected through NABIDH is of good quality and suitable for the purpose that it is being collected for. It also reinforces the appropriate use of health information to support healthcare objectives, and to improve its accessibility and transparency across the network.

Standards in the NABIDH Policy Framework for Protecting Patients

1. Technical and Operational Standards

These standards define how to integrate different electronic medical record systems with NABIDH, so that healthcare facilities can use them for safe and secure communication and exchange.

2. Health Information Security Standards

The Information Security Standards are meant to ensure that all IT users in the healthcare facility and its networks comply with the rules and guidelines concerning the security of patient health information stored at any point in the NABIDH network. They specify the security measures for data protection and privacy management to facilitate the implanting the NABIDH policy framework.

3. Clinical Data Coding and Terminology Standards

These standards consist of a collection of medical terms to be used for recording and coding clinical information about patients in a way that reduces variability in capturing and storing data. The Clinical Data Coding and Terminology Standards help prevent medical errors and oversights, thus protecting patient health.

With these regulations and standards, the NABIDH policy framework builds a secure fortress that safeguards patient health information from all possible threats. It enhances the security of the NABIDH platform and enables better care delivery and improved health outcomes for patients. It empowers patients by giving them more control over their health as well as their health data, and promotes trust and transparency in Dubai’s healthcare system.