UAE-based Oman Insurance Company (OIC) has become the first company to cover all 12 streams of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) treatments at Dubai Healthcare City (DHCC), a member of Tecom investments.

With 10 branches across the emirates, OIC is one of the premier insurance service providers in the region with a major presence in Oman and Qatar.

Homeopathy, Ayurveda, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Unani Medicine, Osteopathy, Therapeutic Massage, Naturopathy, Chiropractic, Tai-Chi, Pilates, Yoga and Guided Imagery are included in the CAM list, said a senior official of DHCC.

These CAM treatments have been licensed by DHCC regulatory body – the Center for Healthcare Planning and Quality (CPQ). These can be obtained at DHCC clinics listed within OIC’s Alternative Medicines Network, noted Dr Ayesha Abdullah, senior vice-president, Dubai Healthcare City.

She said integrated medicine, which combines CAM as well as conventional medicine, was gaining popularity among medical practitioners and healthcare providers.

'With the outstanding global growth of this trend, we have realised it is imperative on our part to provide CAM services and educate the community about these medical streams that have been receiving wider acceptance,' she noted.

CPQ along with ABC Coding Solutions has developed more than 421 new codes with descriptions to further regulate and measure the outcomes of CAM procedures within DHCC.

The codes assist health insurance agencies to recognize effective CAM services, facilitate clinical audits and validation, performance management and improvements, as well as research.

Dr Ayesha said Oman Insurance was the first to offer coverage for all 12 CAM services, which further demonstrates DHCC’s commitment to expand the scope of healthcare services.

This is also part of our ambitious drive to raise regional healthcare excellence. We are proud of the remarkable success we have registered hitherto, and look forward to more partnerships for offering high quality patient care and meet the community needs,” she added.

Abdul Muttalib Mustafa Al Jaidi, CEO of  Oman Insurance Company said “As a market leader, innovations and development of new products that benefit our customers is one of our responsibilities to the market.

'We have developed a special health insurance product insuring CAM services provided by clinics in Dubai Healthcare City. We are happy to announce that all 12 CAM services are being insured by us, a major milestone that integrates both western medicine and CAM,' Al Jaidi said.

'In fact, this is the future of medicine, and opens up a whole new world of choices for our esteemed customers in the UAE. It’s our privilege to collaborate with Dubai Healthcare City and the UAE Center for Healthcare Planning and Quality who have put in place stringent regulations for the protection of patients,' he added.-TradeArabia News Service