The Dubai Health Authority (DHA) said it has become the first health entity in the UAE and the second governmental organization in Dubai to receive the ISO/IEC 20000-1:2011 certification.

It is a service management system (SMS) standard which specifies requirements for the service provider to plan, establish, implement, operate, monitor, review, maintain and improve the service management system, said a DHA statement.

The requirements include the design, transition, delivery and improvement of services to fulfill agreed service requirements, it added.

The DHA IT services were accredited by Bureau Veritas, a global leader in Testing, Inspection and Certification.

DHA received the certification due to the high-level of Information Technology (IT) service management that the authority has adopted in line with international standards, said a senior official.

"The DHA will continue to develop its IT services as enhanced services provide customers with easy access to information and facilitate better and easy online transactions in healthcare," said the director-general Essa Al Maidoor after receiving the certification from Shakir Rasheed, the country chief executive at Bureau Veritas Dubai & Oman.

According to him, the DHA IT department had worked on the project for eight months. Paramount Consultants were roped into the project to ensure the DHA meets all requisite standards for the certification.

"This accreditation confirms the DHA’s commitment to meet high key performance indicator (KPI) levels and provide internal customers with high-level of quality services in line with international standards," remarked Mubaraka Ibrahim, the director of IT.

Khawla Lootah, the assistant director of IT said the accreditation was of significant importance as DHA is the first health entity in the UAE and second government entity in Dubai to receive this certification.

Hayat Al Hammadi, the head of IT services section said: “ E-services provide customers with convenience and ease and therefore the DHA is working at various levels to further enhance its IT services."

"This certification is a recognition of our efforts and highlights the quality of IT services that we provide. We are keen to further enhance our IT services in line with the Dubai Strategic Plan 2015,” Al Hammadi added.-TradeArabia News Service