Private medical licensing procedures go online in UAE

By PMA RASHEED 

The Gulf Today, 25 Jan 2011

Goodbye to the long queues and pressures of waiting lengthy hours at the Ministry of Health (MoH) office to apply for the qualifying examinations or license renewal of medical professionals and healthcare establishments!

The licensing procedures for medical professionals and private sector healthcare establishments in the Northern emirates have been modified by the MoH with a unified online access to the licensing and registration services.

The ministry has deployed a smart document solution on evaluation of certificates and medical permits for the applications with a new interface incorporated in the ministry’s web portal, a senior ministry official revealed.

The system has streamlined the process of job application with automated proactive communication wherein documents are stored in a digital format, which allows authorised data verification and comparison. The system also prohibits data change at both software and hardware levels.

Dr Ahmed Al Zarouni, Director of Private Medical Licensing Department at the MoH, said that all new candidates who apply for the qualifying examinations as well as those who want to renew their existing practicing licences can submit their documents online.

“Issuance or renewal of licences or renewal of suspended licences for medical establishments, hospitals and clinics also will be processed through the online interface. Similar procedures are applied for services including change of name or location and expanding the scope of services and type of medical establishment,” he added.

Speaking at the MoH stand at the Arab Health 2011, Dr Al Zarouni noted, “Apart from the previous procedures, submitting all documents manually at the MoH office by the candidates or the companies for evaluation, the documents can be uploaded to the new interface creating a user ID at the MoH website.

“The central licensing administration office will send confirmation acknowledgement to the applicants by email, once the documents have been received. The verification procedures and exam schedules also will be emailed. The candidates can collect their evaluated documents between two weeks to a month from the MoH office,” he elaborated.

“After the administrative office audits, fees collection and review of the documents for any missing information, the applications will be forwarded to the licensing committee for final approval,” he said.

According to Dr Al Zarouni, the smart documentation is an innovative imitative using the latest technology for the highest protection of documents and exchange of information in a faster way with various systems.

“The smart documentation also provides the applicants with a smart chip that has a storage facility to store the information after encryption. By using a special desktop reader or writer device, the applicant can verify the stored information on the certificates,” he added.

“The candidates and companies can ensure information easy and fast on the evaluated certificates and documents for medical permits. The MoH will store the documents in its centralised digital document archiving system in a standard universal format.”