The DOH Clinical Costing Dictionary: XML Schema, Cost Buckets & Validation

Cyscode Technology  ·  Shafafiya Clinical Costing Guide  ·  DoH/ST/FPS/ADCC/V2/2025  ·  Updated 2026

The Shafafiya dictionary is the authoritative rulebook for Abu Dhabi healthcare data exchange. For clinical costing it defines the XML schema, approved cost buckets, cost types and field-level validation rules that the DOH gateways enforce. A single deprecated tag, a formatting mismatch, or a reconciliation gap is enough to trigger an automatic rejection. This guide covers every layer, from the three primary XML blocks to the full cost bucket and cost type reference, so your file passes before it leaves your building.

What is the DOH Clinical Costing Dictionary?

Shafafiya (Arabic: "transparency") is the DOH's health information exchange programme for Abu Dhabi. The dictionary is its versioned data standard - a precise definition of every accepted field, code set, structural rule and value constraint. Clinical costing submissions are validated against this dictionary alongside the DOH Clinical Costing Standards V2 (2025), which govern how the underlying costs are produced and reconciled. The dictionary controls what data looks like; the standards control how it is generated.

The current active version is V2 (January 2026), reference DoH/ST/FPS/ADCC/V2/2025. It deprecates several tags and cost bucket codes from V1 (2024) and introduces stricter reconciliation requirements. Files referencing retired tags are blocked at the gateway without explanation, which is why pre-submission validation matters.

The three primary XML blocks

Every clinical costing XML file must contain exactly three top-level structural blocks. Missing or misnamed blocks cause immediate schema rejection.

Encounter types reference

The Type field inside each <Encounter> block must use one of the DOH-defined numeric codes. Mismatching the encounter type with procedure codes is a common submission error.

Approved cost buckets (V2)

Cost buckets aggregate final direct cost centres into standardised reporting categories. V2 defines 16 approved codes. Using any unlisted code, including retired V1 names, causes automatic gateway rejection.

Cost Types (V2): Expense Account Mapping

Cost types aggregate general ledger expense accounts into standardised reporting categories. Unlike cost buckets (which identify where care was delivered), cost types identify what kind of resource was consumed. Every GL line item must map to one of the following codes.

Annotated XML skeleton

The minimal valid structure for a single-claim V2 file. Every field shown is required, omit any one and the file fails schema validation at the gateway.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Cost.Submission>

  <Header>
    <SenderID>MF118</SenderID>                  <!-- DOH facility licence code -->
    <ReceiverID>HAAD</ReceiverID>                <!-- Must be exactly HAAD -->
    <TransactionDate>15/05/2026 09:30</TransactionDate>  <!-- DD/MM/YYYY HH:MM -->
    <RecordCount>1</RecordCount>                 <!-- Must match Claim count -->
    <DispositionFlag>PRODUCTION</DispositionFlag> <!-- or PTE_SUBMIT -->
  </Header>

  <Claim>
    <ID>CLM-2026-00001</ID>
    <ProviderID>MF118</ProviderID>

    <Encounter>
      <FacilityID>MF118</FacilityID>
      <ID>ENC-10001</ID>
      <Type>1</Type>                             <!-- 1=Outpatient 2=ED 3=Inpatient 4=DayCase -->
      <Start>12/04/2026 10:15</Start>
      <End>12/04/2026 11:30</End>
      <ActivityClinicianID>GD83792</ActivityClinicianID>
      <PatientID>PAT-90812</PatientID>
      <Specialty>General Practitioner</Specialty>

      <Activity>
        <Procedure>
          <Code>99213</Code>                    <!-- HCPCS / CPT code -->
          <CostBucketDirect>
            <Physician>185.500</Physician>      <!-- AED to 3 decimals -->
            <OP>42.250</OP>
          </CostBucketDirect>
          <CostBucketOverheads>
            <Ward>18.000</Ward>
          </CostBucketOverheads>
        </Procedure>
      </Activity>
    </Encounter>
  </Claim>

</Cost.Submission>

Reconciliation requirements

V2 tightens reconciliation controls. All of the following must hold or the file will be flagged:

• Record count match: RecordCount in the header must exactly equal the number of <Claim> records in the file.
• Three decimal precision: all AED values must be expressed to exactly three decimal places: rounding to two triggers a precision anomaly flag.
• Cost hierarchy: direct costs must be greater than or equal to overhead costs at the encounter level.
• Encounter totals: the sum of all cost bucket values within an encounter must reconcile to the encounter total.
• Annual reconciliation report: a signed report reconciling costs, encounter volumes and product volumes against source data must accompany each annual submission.

Common Rejection Reasons and How to Fix Them

Validate Against the DOH Clinical Costing Dictionary

Cyscode's DOH Clinical Costing Validator encodes every V2 dictionary rule described in this guide. Upload your XML and it checks schema structure, cost bucket codes, encounter-type consistency, CPT benchmark alignment, reconciliation balance and common field errors - then returns an itemised findings list with severity levels and the exact line to fix. Everything runs in your browser; no patient or financial data is transmitted anywhere.

For the wider regulatory context, read the Abu Dhabi Clinical Costing Road Map and the white paper Navigating the Clinical Costing Mandate in Abu Dhabi. For guidance on how costs are produced and reconciled, see DOH Clinical Costing Standards & Guidelines.