Dubai: Companies with over 50 employees will not be required to go to typing centres for medical fitness test transactions of their employees in Dubai, an official said.
A new electronic system of medical fitness transactions initiated by Dubai Health Authority (DHA) will facilitate companies with over 50 employees to directly file medical fitness applications for new visas and visa renewal bypassing typing centres, said a senior DHA official. The medical fitness tests are a mandatory prerequisite for those applying for new or renewal of residence visas.
Elaborating on the new smart electronic integration of the medical fitness tests, Maisa Al Bustani, director of Medical Fitness at DHA, said: “Companies with employees above 50 do not need to go through typing centres as we provide them with unique usernames and passwords so that they can directly fill out the applications on the system. Individuals and companies with less than 50 employees need to go through typing centres to fill out their application for visa issuance and renewal.”
Companies with less than 50 employees can directly log on to the DHA website www.dha.gov.ae to find a list of accredited typing centres. Most of the medical fitness centres have a typing centre on the same premises and they are accredited. This is to provide added convenience in one location to the customer.
“We have also accredited stand-alone typing centres that met our criteria. All typing centres are required to follow quality standards set by the DHA to ensure customer happiness and professional service,” said Al Bustani.
It may be recalled that last week, there was considerable confusion when residents were turned away from conventional typing centres where they went to get their papers processed for medical fitness. This confusion occurred due to the transition period when the system was migrating to the electronically integrated system.
Al Bustani clarified that the new system meant that the medical fitness procedure has now gone completely electronic with zero human intervention. The electronic integration is in line with DHA’s smart health initiative to reduce processing time for medical examination procedures.
The electronic migration is of significant given the vast number of people who require medical fitness services. In 2015, the total number of people who visited DHA-run medical fitness centres were 2,051,802. Of these, 843,085 were new applicants and the remaining were visa renewals.
Al Bustani further explained: “All medical fitness centres are now fully electronically integrated. This means that human intervention is almost zero and is only applicable where certain physical examinations are needed. All results of the blood test and X-ray scans are electronically sent to the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs Dubai (GDRFA-D).
“Once the applicant completes all due screening procedures, the applicant will receive an SMS alert and we will send the results electronically via an email as opposed to the earlier system where the applicant would receive a hard copy of the results via courier services. The results are sent to (GDRFA-D) for visa processing purposes in real time so the process will now be much quicker.”
She added that the authority has also begun the process of streamlining medical fitness services to enhance the customer’s satisfaction and make these typing centres a one-stop shop for them. So far, 25 typing centres, located both within medical fitness centres of DHA and external ones, have been accredited and are authorised to provide services.
Al Bustani said: “We will also make sure that these centres are distributed evenly across Dubai to ensure that residents are able to go to a centre that is closest to his/her home.”
In future, the DHA will also launch a medial fitness app. In the first phase, companies will be able to access the app to book medical fitness tests for their employees. They can book a medical fitness appointment for new visas and for visa renewals using the app. They can select a centre which is convenient to them; they can also make a selection based on the type of service they want. For example, VIP fitness test and the centres that provide this service will pop up on the screen. They can also make the payment online. At a later stage, we will also provide them with the appointment-scheduling facility, added Dr Bustani.
