Dubai promotes international accreditation of hospitals

Dubai is heavily promoting the importance of international accreditation for all hospitals in Dubai Healthcare City and across all of Dubai.

Dubai Health Authority (DHA) has a health regulation mandate for all hospitals to be internationally accredited and periodically reaccredited.

The regulation is in place to ensure provision of high quality health services and patient safety. At a later stage, DHA aims to extend this mandate to all other health facilities.

Dubai recognizes more than 20 international accreditations for health care facilities so healthcare providers has several options to choose from in terms of seeking international accreditation. Over 100 hospitals and clinics now have the accreditation. Dubai has come a long way in terms of international accreditations since 2007 when only one private hospital was internationally accredited. Dubai has 25 private hospitals, of which 20 are internationally accredited and five are new hospitals that are in process of getting internationally accredited. New facilities have a grace period of 18 months from the date of establishment after which they need to get accredited by an international accreditation agency that is recognized by the International Society for Quality in Healthcare (ISQUA).

The American Hospital Dubai has earned its 6th accreditation by Joint Commission International (JCI) It became the first hospital in the Middle East – and only the second in the world – to be awarded JCI accreditation in May 2000 and has successfully maintained its accredited status. JCI carries out surveys on its accredited hospitals every three years.

Peter Makowski of the American Hospital Dubai comments: “JCI accreditation is an important way of assuring all our patients that we provide the highest standards of US quality health care. It also confirms that we are committed to supporting the country in becoming a destination of choice for high quality international health care tourism.” The American Hospital Dubai is a 183-bed private hospital targeting customers in Dubai, the UAE and the surrounding Gulf States. The hospital’s new bed tower is currently rolling out new facilities that will create an additional 197 beds in private rooms and suites, transforming the hospital into a 384-bed one.