Last year we announced our services to health organisations in the face of Abu Dhabi’s Department of Health (DoH) Clinical Costing Standards and Guidelines.
We saw incredible response from that announcement and were able to assist many healthcare organistations in keeping compliant.
CEO, Ross Wilson speaking to people in the UAE
Now the DoH has moved from setting expectations to enforcing them. With the Clinical Costing Standards and Guidelines now in force, healthcare providers across the emirate are receiving letters warning of significant weekly financial penalties if they fail to comply with the new framework. For hospitals, clinics, and specialised centres, the message is clear: clinical costing is no longer optional - it is a regulatory and strategic necessity.
A new era of accountability in Abu Dhabi
The DoH Clinical Costing Standards and Guidelines, aligned with the Abu Dhabi Clinical Costing Road Map 2025 and the Value-Based Funding Framework, set out a clear, structured approach to how providers must measure and report the cost of care. All public and private facilities that deliver direct patient care - from general hospitals to day surgery centres and polyclinics - are required to implement patient-level costing and submit standardised cost data via the DoH platform.
These requirements go beyond high-level budgeting. Providers must:
Allocate direct and indirect costs accurately to individual patient episodes
Reconcile costing outputs back to audited financial statements
Maintain audit trails and governance, including finance leadership sign-off
Meet strict timelines for annual data submission and respond to follow-up queries
The Road Map 2025 documentation highlights both the compliance timeline and the consequences of non-compliance, including data rejection, delayed reimbursement, increased scrutiny, and financial penalties. Recent letters issued to non-compliant providers underline that the penalty regime is now active and escalating.
For organisations operating on tight margins, the cost of inaction can quickly exceed the cost of getting clinical costing right.
Why clinical costing matters beyond compliance
While fines and letters have captured attention, the underlying intent of the framework is to improve transparency, efficiency, and value across Abu Dhabi’s healthcare system. Robust clinical costing enables providers to:
Understand true cost per patient, procedure, and specialty
Identify unprofitable services and opportunities for efficiency
Align pricing and tariffs with evidence-based cost data
Support negotiations with payers and justify reimbursement levels
Benchmark performance across facilities and over time
In an environment of rising operational costs and value-based care expectations, the organisations that invest early in accurate, repeatable costing processes will be better positioned to compete, not just to comply.
CBS - Health Costing Experts and CostPro: proven capability in Abu Dhabi
CBS - Health Costing Experts has been working in the Gulf region for many years, with its flagship patient-level costing solution, CostPro, already deployed or in implementation with leading providers in Abu Dhabi and the wider UAE.
CostPro is designed specifically for complex healthcare environments and is widely recognised as a world-class clinical costing system that delivers:
Patient-level costing across inpatient, outpatient, and day services
Automated regular data loads from core clinical and financial systems
Time and activity-based allocation methodologies that align with DoH expectations
Rapid identification of anomalies and data quality issues
Insightful reporting to support clinical, financial, and operational decision-making
Recent partnerships with organisations such as Capital Health and Elyzee Hospital in Abu Dhabi demonstrate how CostPro can be implemented to meet the DoH Clinical Costing Standards while simultaneously improving internal transparency and decision-making.
As more providers look for a “world-class costing system,” CBS is increasingly seen as the most trusted partner for both compliance and performance.
Strengthening regional expertise: welcoming Reem Hamouche
To support the growing demand for clinical costing expertise in the MENA region, CBS has expanded its on-the-ground presence in Abu Dhabi. We are pleased to welcome Reem Hamouche to our team, based in the emirate and focused on supporting both current and future clients.
Reem Hamouche
Reem’s background spans clinical costing, process optimisation, and large-scale data exchange implementations, giving her a rare combination of technical, regulatory, and operational insight. Her role as Business Analyst strengthens our ability to help providers:
Improve costing accuracy and transparency across service lines
Align data structures and processes with DoH and DHA regulatory requirements
Streamline onboarding, configuration, and go-live for CostPro
Translate strategic objectives into measurable financial and operational outcomes
For UAE providers, this means faster response times, deeper local knowledge, and support that is closely attuned to the realities of the Abu Dhabi and broader UAE regulatory landscape.
Why act now? Why choose CBS?
With enforcement now underway, the window for “getting ready” is closing. Providers that wait risk:
Accruing substantial weekly financial penalties
Experiencing data rejections that disrupt reimbursement
Facing increased regulatory scrutiny and audits
Falling behind peers that are already using costing data to drive improvement
CBS offers a combination that is difficult to match:
Proven technology (CostPro) built specifically for patient-level clinical costing in complex health systems
Deep expertise in Activity Based Costing and value-based healthcare
A growing footprint of successful implementations in Abu Dhabi and across the UAE
Dedicated regional support, now strengthened by Reem’s appointment in Abu Dhabi
Whether you are just starting your clinical costing journey or need to lift existing processes to meet DoH standards, CBS can help you move quickly, confidently, and sustainably.
Take the next step
If you are a healthcare organisation in Abu Dhabi or anywhere in the UAE and you have received - or expect to receive - a clinical costing compliance letter, now is the time to act.
To discuss how CostPro and CBS can help you:
Achieve and demonstrate compliance with DoH Clinical Costing Standards
Reduce your exposure to weekly financial penalties
Build a robust, repeatable clinical costing capability that supports long-term performance
Contact our Abu Dhabi team today or reach out directly to Reem Hamouche here to arrange a conversation. Together, we can help you get your clinical costing house in order - and turn compliance into a powerful strategic advantage.