Dubai pilots hospital star rating system

Dubai is undertaking a pilot project that will eventually lead to hotel-style star rating system for hospitals.

Dr Laila Al Marzouqi, director of medical tourism and health regulation at Dubai Health Authority, told Gulf News that the pilot is being undertaken with five hospitals to define the key performance indicators (KPIs) for the system.

Once the pilot is over, the KPIs will be applied to 29 private and four government hospitals.

“These will be based on a complete 360-degree assessment of the facility which will cover international accreditation of doctors, clinical morbidity and mortality rates, availability and quality of medical equipment, availability of beds and medical compliance,” she was quoted as saying.

The price of treatment is expected to be determined by the hospital’s rating once the system is introduced, Dr Haider Al Yousuf, head of public health funding, told the publication.

There will also be minimum standards expected of every institution.

Dr Peter Cruse, CEO of Dubai-based American Academy Cosmetic Surgery Hospital (AACSH), told Gulf Business last month that he would welcome the introduction of a star rating system.

Read: Sun, sand and surgery: Dubai’s plan to become a medical tourism hub

“We would support and endorse a move toward rating healthcare facilities such as ours,” he said. “One of the reasons for that is because when you are trying to practice the highest quality medicine and healthcare you have nothing to hide and nothing to lose.”

He suggested a rating system could even put some “lower quality operators out of business” depending on the criteria.