Emergency in Dubai? NABIDH ensures doctors know your medical history instantly
How your Emirates ID acts as your medical record, thanks to NABIDH.
Dubai: Imagine a medical emergency: Doctors need your medical history fast to provide the best care. This is where NABIDH, Dubai's innovative healthcare platform, steps in.
NABIDH (National Backbone for Integrated Dubai Health), developed by the Dubai Health Authority (DHA), solves this problem by creating a unified medical record accessible across public and private hospitals and clinics.
What is NABIDH?
NABIDH is a secure healthcare information exchange platform. It creates a unified medical record of your complete health history and connects it by unifying the digital records. The platform makes the information easily available to you and your care team, which results in better care and faster diagnosis.
With the platform, doctors and medical organisations across Dubai will have recent, reliable and relevant data about your health, medical history and health insurance through unified medical records. According to DHA, NABIDH makes sharing health care information easy, affordable and seamless between hospitals, clinics and patients.
How does NABIDH help patients in Dubai?
When visiting a NABIDH-connected facility on your next visit to the hospital or clinic, you will be asked to consent to share your medical information through the NABIDH system. If you do allow access to your medical history, NABIDH will then ensure your medical record is updated on the system, which can be accessed by other clinics and hospitals which are part of the network.
Once a clinic or hospital has access, they can see if you have any chronic diseases, recent injuries, surgeries or allergies, and based on that healthcare professionals can provide you with the right treatment and medication.
What type of medical information is shared through the NABIDH platform?
The following information will be shared with your healthcare professional:
• Patient demographics
• Encounters
• Allergies
• Vitals
• Histories (social and family)
• Problem list
• Procedures
• Lab results
• Clinical documents (discharge summary, procedure notes, etc.)
• Radiology reports
• Immunisations
• Medication orders
• Insurance information
Personal details such as your Emirates ID, mobile number, date of birth, nationality, and first and last name are also linked to NABIDH.
Are all hospitals and clinics in Dubai connected to the NABIDH system?
While not all hospitals and clinics are connected to the NABIDH network yet, on its website, nabidh.dha.gov.ae, the authority states that the NABIDH team is continuously working towards connecting all public and private facilities in Dubai. You can check if the hospital or clinic you usually is within the NABIDH network, through the searchable list of NABIDH-connected facilities here: https://nabidh.ae/#/comm/network
How it works
• Consent - When visiting a NABIDH-connected facility, you will be asked to consent to share your medical information. This is voluntary, and patients can also choose to opt out.
• Secure access - With consent, healthcare professionals can securely access your complete medical history, including allergies, medications, and past procedures.
• Enhanced care - Doctors can leverage this information to deliver personalised and efficient care.
What happens if I opt out of NABIDH?
If you opt out, NABIDH will block access to your health information even for emergency treatment. This means that it may take longer for your healthcare providers to get the medical information they may need to treat you, according to NABIDH.
If you later on decide to provide consent to allow NABIDH to access your medical history and data, you can contact the hospital or clinic again or call the official DHA contact centre – 800 342.