In a move toward better transparency, financial accuracy, and quality care, the Department of Health (DOH) Abu Dhabi has launched the Clinical Costing Road Map 2025. This initiative is a key step under the emirate’s broader Value-Based Funding Framework, ensuring that healthcare funding is tied not just to volume, but to the value of the cost of care delivered and its outcome.
As part of this initiative, all licensed healthcare providers in Abu Dhabi offering direct patient care are now mandated to submit accurate, standardized, and patient-level cost data to the DOH. This move brings Abu Dhabi in line with international best practices in clinical costing and health system performance monitoring.
Why Clinical Costing Matters
Clinical costing is the process of calculating the exact cost of delivering patient care services, from consultations and diagnostic testing to medications and inpatient treatment. This type of data provides critical insight into:
- How resources are being allocated
- Where inefficiencies lie
- How to set fair and evidence-based pricing and reimbursement models
- Improving the overall quality and affordability of care
With this data, the DOH can better align payments with outcomes and ensure that providers are adequately reimbursed for services, not just for doing more, but for doing better.
Three Pillars of the Clinical Costing Road Map
To help providers prepare and comply, the DOH has developed three main reference documents:
- Abu Dhabi Clinical Costing Standard
This outlines the principles and standardized processes that all providers must follow when calculating and reporting cost data.
- Abu Dhabi Clinical Costing Guideline
These guidelines provide more detailed explanations and best practices to support the implementation of the standard.
- Technical Data Collection Document
This serves as the blueprint for submitting structured data through the DOH’s Shafafiya platform. It includes data schemas, validation rules, and the technical process for uploading and managing cost data submissions.
Submission Timeline: Key Dates to Remember
The DOH has published a detailed submission timeline to ensure every facility follows a consistent, structured process:
- 1–15 July 2025 – Initial submission by healthcare facilities
- 16–31 July 2025 – DOH conducts data validation and reviews submissions
- 1–31 August 2025 – Facilities make corrections, resubmit data, and complete reconciliation
- By 31 August 2025 – Final reconciliation reports and executive sign-offs submitted
- By 30 September 2025, DOH will release the final consolidated dataset
This timeline is mandatory and applies to all relevant providers
Who Needs to Comply?
All public and private healthcare facilities in Abu Dhabi that provide direct patient care must comply. This includes:
- General hospitals
- Specialized hospitals
- Clinics and polyclinics
- Day surgery centers
Exempt Facilities:
- Stand-alone outpatient pharmacies: These do not deliver direct care, and their costs are not tracked at the patient level.
- Stand-alone diagnostic centers: These are categorized as third-party purchased services, and their costs are recorded by the referring facility.
What Facilities Must Do
To comply, healthcare facilities must:
- Appoint and register a designated Clinical Costing Contact
- Complete the Readiness Assessment Survey issued by DOH
- Prepare and structure data per DOH guidelines
- Submit all relevant cost data via Shafafiya in the required format (typically XML)
- Review and respond to DOH validation feedback
- Ensure timely resubmission and reconciliation
- Complete executive sign-off and final submission
Facilities are expected to conduct internal quality checks, such as avoiding duplicate costs, zero values, and incorrect allocations.
How Planners Tax Consultancy Can Help
Navigating this complex, data-heavy process requires both technical knowledge and financial expertise. That’s where Planners Tax Consultancy comes in.
We assist healthcare providers with:
🔹 Full Clinical Costing Readiness planning and documentation
🔹 Generating and structuring DOH-compliant submissions
🔹 Upload support via the Shafafiya system
🔹 Validation error resolution and resubmission handling
🔹 Reconciling internal accounting records with submitted data
🔹 Staff training on DOH costing standards and compliance workflow
🔹 Ensuring accurate reporting aligned with VAT and corporate tax obligations
Whether you’re a small clinic or a large hospital, we streamline the process, minimizing compliance risk, reducing delays, and ensuring your cost data meets all technical and financial benchmarks.
Why Early Action Matters
With tight deadlines and a new level of reporting detail required, facilities that start early have a clear advantage. The DOH has emphasized that failure to comply may result in:
- Delays in reimbursement
- Data rejection
- Financial penalties
- Audits or additional scrutiny
Let’s Get You Submission-Ready
With expertise in both UAE tax regulations and healthcare compliance, Planners Tax Consultancy is your ideal partner for meeting the Clinical Costing Road Map 2025 requirements. 📞 For a free consultation: 054 304 0791