Arab Health 2025: Why has Dubai Health Authority (DHA) ‘hired’ virtual employees?
Real staff members spared tedious, repetitive tasks, leading to higher efficiency
Dubai: The Dubai Health Authority (DHA) has ‘hired’ two virtual employees by deploying AI-powered robotic process automation, the authority revealed at Arab Health 2025 in Dubai.
Speaking to Gulf News, Majid Sultan Al Mheiri, director of Information Technology at DHA, said: “Though they have a user ID and password just like normal employees, at the moment we call them just Virtual Employees. These are software robots designed to perform tedious, repetitive tasks 24/7 without breaks, sick leaves, or vacations.”
Designed to transform monotonous repetitive tasks into streamlined operations, it is the first-of-its-kind initiative in the healthcare sector in the UAE, he added.
What are the benefits?
These employees reduce processing time and human errors, increase productivity, eliminate manual tasks that require human decision-making and improve employee satisfaction.
The Virtual Employees have already been implemented in 10 operations within the DHA, including certifying medical reports and processing international invoices.
Highlighting their efficiency, Al Mheiri said: “For example, validating and certifying medical reports used to take one to two days. With Virtual Employees, this is now completed in just two minutes. They validate hospital licenses, doctor credentials, and report timelines before certifying and returning the reports to requesters. The whole process, which used to take 448 hours of work a month is now completed in 45 hours, saving 403 hours.”
They are used to perform tasks related to international operations as well. “In our overseas offices in the US, UK, and Germany, time zone differences posed a challenge. Now, Virtual Employees process invoices, validate agreements, and ensure compliance around the clock.”
Are the virtual workers a job threat?
Al Mheiri pointed out that the virtual employees have, contrary to posing a job threat to human staff members, increased productivity and improved morale of the employees by sparing them monotonous administrative work.
“Employees no longer have to handle repetitive tasks, allowing them to focus on strategic, innovative, and decision-making activities. In HR, for example, our employees now, instead of looking into the files of each employee, are focused on the relationship between them and different employees across the department.”
Currently, two Virtual Employees are operational. DHA plans to expand their deployment, further reducing time and costs while enhancing quality.
