Abu Dhabi develops quality index aimed to trigger upsurge in healthcare standards

Health chiefs in Abu Dhabi have developed a new quality index aimed at driving up standards in the healthcare sector in the UAE capital.
Health Authority – Abu Dhabi (HAAD) will reveal details of the Abu Dhabi Healthcare Quality Index at the HAAD & MEED Middle East Patient Safety & Quality Congress 2015 which opens on Monday.
"The objective is a comprehensive and transparent quality framework that will be the first in the region and will build up and improve on the latest thinking on quality internationally," said HAAD strategy director Dr Asma Al Mannaei.
"We are looking in the longer-term to make this index available for any of our partner organisations in GCC and beyond to enable benchmarking to drive continuous improvement."
Al Mannaei said the new index will initially focus on hospitals, but clinics and other healthcare facilities will be added later.
"The framework will define a uniform set of globally-informed standards that will be used to evaluate providers in all aspects of their quality performance," said Al Mannaei. "The final framework will specify quality standards and performance targets to ensure consistent application by regulators and providers alike and guide quality improvement efforts in the future."
Dr Omar Najim, senior advisor at HAAD, added: "Abu Dhabi is focusing on improving the whole healthcare system to deliver the highest quality that is both accessible to its population and sustainable for the future.
"The HAAD vision is a healthier Abu Dhabi. To achieve that, the authority has developed a healthcare sector strategy and a key component of this strategy is ensuring a high quality of care for all. Quality of care is a core component of providing healthcare in general."
Benchmarks for measuring quality include the standardised mortality rate, timeliness of care, patient satisfaction and measures of processes.