Since 2015, the Abu Dhabi Department of Health (DOH) has signalled its intention to transition towards Value-Based Healthcare (VBHC), part of a wider global movement to meet the evolving needs of the healthcare system. One of the core "quadruple aims" of VBHC is understanding and improving healthcare cost efficiency. To achieve this, clinical costing has been implemented across the Abu Dhabi healthcare market to collect accurate, consistent and meaningful cost data from all care providers.
Important notice. Clinical costing is now mandatory across the Abu Dhabi healthcare market (with limited exceptions). Failure to provide costing data to the DOH clinical costing standards may render your site "non-compliant" and liable for fines.
What is the Abu Dhabi Clinical Costing Road Map?
The Road Map is the DOH's published timeline and document set that tells providers what to submit, how to submit it, and when. Each version bundles the Abu Dhabi Clinical Costing Standard, the Clinical Costing Guidelines, and the technical documents and user guides that define the Shafafiya submission schema. It is the single reference point that aligns finance teams, clinical teams and IT around one compliant process.
Road Map 2025, Version 1.0
Published in November 2024, governing the 2025 submission cycle. The release included:
- Abu Dhabi Clinical Costing Standard: the methodology providers must follow.
- Clinical Costing Guidelines: practical interpretation of the Standard.
- Technical Documents & User Guides: the XML schema and submission rules.
Road Map 2026, Version 2.0 (Latest)
Published in February 2026, regulating the 2026 cycle. The update introduced:
- Abu Dhabi Clinical Costing Standard V2
- Clinical Costing Guidelines V2
- Clinical Costing Quick Start Guide: a faster on-ramp for new providers.
- Updated Technical Documents & FAQs: refreshed schema and validation rules.
Because the schema and cost-bucket definitions evolve between versions, files built for the 2025 cycle are not automatically valid for 2026. Validating against the current rules before submission is the simplest way to avoid rejection, you can do this for free using our Abu Dhabi Clinical Costing Validator.
What do you need to do? The provider checklist
- Register your clinical costing contact. It is mandatory to register your facility's designated clinical costing contact person using the DOH "Register of Key Contacts" form.
- Submit questions through the right channel. All general questions must go via the "Abu Dhabi Clinical Costing: Questionnaire" form.
- Complete the readiness survey. All providers must complete the Clinical Costing Data Submission Readiness Assessment.
- Access shared training materials. Training materials and session recordings are shared with primary contacts through DOH shared-drive access.
- Route technical questions correctly. All technical questions on the costing schema must be submitted via the "Abu Dhabi Clinical Costing: Technical Questions" form.
Who needs to comply?
| Category | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Applicable facilities | All healthcare facilities that provide direct patient care: regardless of facility size, must submit clinical costing data. |
| Stand-alone outpatient pharmacies | Exception. They operate independently and are not included in a direct patient-care facility's operational cost, so they do not submit costing data. |
| Stand-alone diagnostic centres | Exception. Their services are recorded as Third-Party / Purchased Services in the general ledger of the facility that uses them, so they do not submit directly. |
Worked example. If facility A uses services from a stand-alone diagnostic centre, the cost of those services is attributed to the patient receiving care at facility A and recorded in facility A's general ledger. The diagnostic centre does not treat patients directly and its costs are already captured by the facility using its services.
The background of the Road Map
The DOH initiated the Clinical Costing and Value-Based Funding Framework Project, a 15-month programme structured across three distinct streams (the second and third running in parallel) and successfully completed in August 2024. The Road Map is the operational output of that project, the mechanism that turns VBHC ambition into a repeatable, auditable data process.
From compliance to financial intelligence
Treated as a checkbox, clinical costing is an administrative burden. Treated properly, it becomes a source of patient-level financial intelligence that informs DRG profitability, service-line decisions and capacity planning. For the strategic context, read our white paper Navigating the Clinical Costing Mandate in Abu Dhabi, and the deep-dive Abu Dhabi Clinical Costing & the Clinicost Engine Framework.
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