The Dubai Health Authority(DHA) has unveiled the price regulation model for health services in the private sector that will be applicable from next year.

Essa Al Maidoor, director-general of DHA, said: “This model essentially aims to regulate price increases of health services in the private sector. The price increase will be regulated in a calculated and transparent way so that it facilitates a sustainable health system.

“The regulation will be applicable for all polyclinics, clinics and hospitals in Dubai and services provided to Dubai insurance policies. The aim of the price regulation model is to ensure balance between allowing price increases and protecting patient’s interest.”

The model will allow a percentage increase on existing prices of services, subject to approval of the DHA. A separate proposal is required for every service the health entity proposes to increase, said Al Maidoor.

A prerequisite for healthcare providers interested to apply for a price increase will include compliance with DHA regulations, no pending violations, compliance with smart regulatory tools like e-Claims and e-Prescriptions, he said.

The maximum increase that is allowed for next year will be 4.22 per cent which is the published rate of inflation by the Dubai Statistics Centre.

“The deadline for application is end of November and the price increase will be applicable for 2015. This means that the price increase is applicable for 12 months and healthcare entities will not be able to increase prices for a year. This ensures sustainability, is fair towards providers and at the same time protects patient rights,” added Al Maidoor.

Dr Haider Al Yousuf, director of Health Funding at DHA, said: “Price regulation of healthcare services is a best system applied by various countries. It is an important tool to ensure that quality is rewarded. This essentially means that price regulation incentivises quality outcomes.”

The DHA has asked all private provides to comply with the e-Claims system as it is transparent system to track compliance of all financial transactions of the health sector, he said.

“Through the e-Claim link we can track the proper implementation of existing and approved price increases. In 2014, e-Claim portal received 900,000 claims per month and by the end of the year, the transactions will be worth approximately Dh6 billion ($1.6 billion).”

The e-Claim link was used by 2,300 service providers who submitted their electronic claims to 44 insurance companies, said Dr Al Yousuf.

Twenty-three million services and eight million claims were recorded from the beginning of this year and the  portal was used by 13,500 physicians who dispensed more than 10 million medications, he said.

Since the implementation of the e-Claims portal last year, the utilisation has increased and transactions have almost doubled, he added. - TradeArabia News Service