Department of Health to introduce additional Jawda indicators in 2019

• More than 50 new clinical outcome indicators for general and specialised health facilities, homecare centers, and long-term centers
• New indicators to cover specialised medical services such as Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART), Bariatric, Orthopaedics, Stroke, and Emergency Medical Services (EMS)
• Waiting times were revised and new metrics have been introduced

The strategic new additions to the Jawda programme encompasses more than 50 new clinical outcome indicators for general and specialised health facilities, homecare centers, and long-term centers. Notably, a set of indicators focusing mainly on patient safety and effectiveness of clinical services is introduced to cover five specialised medical services including Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART), Bariatric, Orthopaedics, Stroke, and Emergency Medical Services (EMS).

H.E. Mohamed Hamad Al Hameli, Undersecretary of DoH commented: “Quality will continue to remain at the heart of our priorities. The enhancements in Jawda’s programme is a reflection of our commitment to pushing quality beyond boundaries. This step complements our efforts to promote Abu Dhabi as a leading medical tourism destination and to place it on the global map of world-class healthcare systems.”

As part of the changes to further improve healthcare quality, DoH has also reviewed the ‘waiting time’ guideline and introduced new metrics, bringing it to a total of 13 indicators aimed at providing patients with more accessibility to medical services.

Dr. Asma Al Mannaei, Director of Healthcare Quality Division at DoH said: “The revised Jawda guidelines are more detailed and comprehensive. By expanding the scope of metrics with which we evaluate performance, we will gain more insight into the progress of hospitals delivering services in different specialties. This will undoubtedly further raise the bar for quality in healthcare in Abu Dhabi and solidify the culture of accountability, competency, and transparency among health providers. This step comes in line with DoH’s core mission to ensure exceptional quality of healthcare services for locals and residents in Abu Dhabi.”

Dr. Al Mannaei added, “We have worked alongside a number of local and international experts to develop the new indicators and ensure their effectiveness and appropriateness to Abu Dhabi Health sector.”

DoH Quality department has worked diligently with local and international medical and healthcare quality experts during recent weeks to develop the indicators for each specialisation. Following rigorous reviews, the indicators were approved by the DoH Strategic Partnership Council and Advisory Council – Sub technical committee. The committees comprised of members from public and private healthcare providers and the National Health Insurance Company (Daman).

DoH will be organising a series of trainings and workshops for healthcare providers over the upcoming months to update them for effectively incorporating the changes into their operations and adhering to high standard of quality.

Launched in 2014, the Abu Dhabi Quality Index Programme (Jawda) is a robust framework designed to assess the quality performance of health providers in Abu Dhabi based on a set of quality outcome indicators under four main areas. These areas include safety, effectiveness of care, timeliness of service delivery, and patient-centric delivery of care.

DoH is utilising Jawda results to determine the eligibility of health providers in joining the medical tourism network. The network comprises of best-in-class service providers with high rankings as per the Jawda results. The network aims to provide guidance to international patients seeking specialised medical treatment and expertise in Abu Dhabi.