The Health Authority - Abu Dhabi, HAAD, the regulator of the healthcare sector in the emirate of Abu Dhabi, is implementing the next stage of reforms to bring about a significant improvement in the quality of healthcare provisions.

Professor Maha Barakat, Director-General at HAAD, said, "Healthcare facilities are participating in something extraordinary, and being part of the Abu Dhabi family will make Abu Dhabi a world leader in quality improvement. The objective metrics used to define quality in the sector are based on international best practices, and the system will be under constant supervision and evolution to be at the forefront of healthcare quality innovation. We welcome the involvement of stakeholders as partners in this evolution, where patients and quality come first."

In this month, as per previous communication from HAAD, the Jawda Quality programme will be integrated to payment (Pay-for-Quality), and the healthcare facilities that score the lowest in the quality ranking will be strongly incentivised to correct their deficiencies. They will receive specific quality improvement advice from HAAD.

Their remuneration may be subject to a reduction related to the quality score. The aim of this first-of-its-kind programme in the region is to provide positive reinforcement to good-quality healthcare providers while discouraging poor performance. Outcomes can be queried through HAAD’s dedicated appeal mechanism.

"One of the features that make this programme unique is that quality scores will be dynamic and change from month-to-month related to each month’s performance, so healthcare providers who promptly correct deficiencies will improve their quality score in the subsequent month," Barakat added.

As this system develops, HAAD continues to welcome full engagement from all parties.

Source: Wam