NABIDH, Malaffi and Riayati: the UAE's health information exchanges

The three exchanges at a glance

NABIDH (Dubai)

What NABIDH is

NABIDH stands for Network & Analysis Backbone for Integrated Dubai Health. It is also the Arabic word for "pulse" (نابض). It combines the records each Dubai facility holds on a patient into one electronic medical file. A treating doctor can then see allergies, diagnoses, medicines, lab results and past visits from other facilities.

Scale and timeline

• October 2022: DHA said all Dubai hospitals would be onboarded by the end of 2022, with clinic onboarding to finish in Q4 2023 (Gulf News).
• January 2023: 382 facilities, more than 31,000 clinicians and more than 7 million unified records (DHA).
• November 2024: more than 1,300 facilities, 9.47 million patient records and 81% of Dubai's healthcare professionals connected (DH Arab, reporting DHA figures).

Which Dubai facilities must connect

The NABIDH Policies and Standards apply to all DHA-licensed public and private facilities in Dubai. Hospitals connected first, then clinics. New clinics are expected to connect as part of opening. Before you buy an EMR, confirm your licence category's current status with DHA. Free-zone facilities in DHCC are licensed by DHCR, not DHA, so check whether the rules apply to you. If you are still getting licensed, see our DHA licence guide and Sheryan login guide.

How to onboard to NABIDH

1. Choose an EMR that already connects to NABIDH. Ask the vendor for live Dubai customers. A roadmap promise is not enough.
2. Request onboarding from the NABIDH team. You will need your 7-digit Sheryan facility licence number. DHA's onboarding issues an EMR code, an application key and separate test and production endpoints.
3. Map your data. This includes Emirates ID on every patient record, each clinician's Sheryan licence number, and specialties. Medicines are coded to the Dubai Drug Code (DDC).
4. Test the HL7 messages. NABIDH uses HL7 v2.5.1: ADT messages for registration and visits, PPR for problems, RDE for prescriptions, ORU for lab results and MDM for documents. Your vendor sends test messages until conformance passes.
5. Go live and monitor. Data is sent in real time. Rejected messages need fixing, usually because of a missing Emirates ID or an unmapped code.

Contact: DHA's 800 342 (800 DHA) or nabidh.ae.

Malaffi (Abu Dhabi)

What Malaffi is

Malaffi ("my file") was the region's first HIE. It is run by Abu Dhabi Health Data Services for DoH. By early 2023 DoH said every public and private hospital in Abu Dhabi was connected, with more than 1.4 billion records from about 2,500 healthcare organisations (DoH). Results from the IFHAS screening for Thiqa members are added to Malaffi as well.

Mandatory onboarding: the 2026 circulars

• DoH Circular 10/2026 (19 January 2026) requires all healthcare facilities in Abu Dhabi to connect a minimum dataset to Malaffi. The list has 28 data items, including admissions and discharges, lab and radiology results, medication orders and immunisations. Facilities had one month to email an implementation plan, about 19 February 2026, and six months to be fully transmitting, about 19 July 2026. A non-compliant facility may have its licence renewal refused or restricted.
• DoH Circular 171/2026 (4 September 2026) gives traditional, complementary and alternative medicine (TCAM) centres a 12-month grace period, ending around September 2027, to integrate and submit patient data. After that, licences will not be renewed.

How to onboard to Malaffi

1. Email the ADHDS team at onboarding@malaffi.ae to confirm which datasets apply to your facility type.
2. Send your implementation plan to the Malaffi onboarding team. Name your EMR vendor and set a target date.
3. Build and test the interfaces with your vendor, then confirm data is transmitting successfully.
4. Give clinicians access to the Malaffi Provider Portal, which can open from inside a connected EMR.

Questions about the policy itself go to the DoH HIE office at hie@doh.gov.ae.

Malaffi for patients

Malaffi Health launched at GITEX 2022 as an app and website. Patients can see visits, lab and radiology results, medicines, allergies, immunisations and discharge summaries from Abu Dhabi providers. You log in with a verified UAE Pass account, or with an email address after verifying your identity.

Riayati (Northern Emirates)

What Riayati is

Riayati ("my care") is MOHAP's National Unified Medical Record. It covers facilities licensed by MOHAP, mainly in Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah. Emirates Health Services (EHS) runs the government hospitals and health centres there, and its Wareed system feeds Riayati. MOHAP says Wareed supplies more than half of Northern Emirates health data, from 17 hospitals and more than 80 health centres.

A ministerial decision dated 16 November 2021 required licensed facilities to join the unified record within one year (MOHAP). By January 2023 Riayati held 1.9 billion records for 9.5 million patients, accessible to more than 90,000 providers in 3,057 facilities.

How private facilities connect

You connect through an EMR vendor that MOHAP has already integrated, not directly. Ask your vendor to show a live Riayati connection, and check MOHAP's Riayati initiative page and the Riayati portal for the current requirements. Patients can use the e-portal to see who has access to their record.

How the three connect

In January 2023 MOHAP, DoH and DHA signed an agreement linking Riayati, Malaffi and NABIDH. A clinician in Sharjah can now see relevant history recorded in Dubai or Abu Dhabi, and the same works in the other directions. Each facility still connects only to its own emirate's exchange.

Common onboarding problems

• Missing Emirates ID. All three exchanges match patients by Emirates ID. Make it mandatory at registration, with a defined process for tourists and newborns.
• Clinician licence numbers not mapped. Each doctor's Sheryan or DoH licence number must be stored in the EMR.
• Vendor "connected" only in test. Ask for a production go-live date and a reference customer.
• No owner inside the clinic. Rejected messages build up without anyone noticing. Assign someone to check the error queue every week.

Frequently asked questions

What is NABIDH in DHA?

NABIDH is DHA's health information exchange. It joins up patient records from DHA-licensed hospitals, clinics, labs and pharmacies into one electronic medical file per patient.

Is NABIDH mandatory for clinics in Dubai?

The NABIDH Policies and Standards apply to all DHA-licensed public and private facilities. Clinic onboarding was targeted for completion in 2023, and new clinics are expected to connect. DHCC free-zone facilities should check with DHCR.

What is the Malaffi deadline for Abu Dhabi facilities?

DoH Circular 10/2026 required an implementation plan within one month and full minimum-dataset transmission within six months of 19 January 2026, so about July 2026. TCAM centres have a 12-month grace period from 4 September 2026.

Can patients see their own records?

In Abu Dhabi, yes, through the Malaffi Health app or website with UAE Pass. Riayati has a MOHAP e-portal. In Dubai, NABIDH is mainly a clinician-facing system.

What is the difference between Riayati and NABIDH?

Riayati is MOHAP's national record for the Northern Emirates and federal facilities. NABIDH is Dubai's exchange for DHA-licensed facilities. Since 2023 the two are linked with each other and with Malaffi.

What is the NABIDH EMR requirement?

Your EMR must send HL7 v2.5.1 messages that meet DHA's NABIDH inbound specification. Choose a vendor that is already live on NABIDH.

Opening a clinic in Dubai or Abu Dhabi? Once your systems are compliant, Access One can help fill your appointment book.

Sources

• DHA: NABIDH Policies and Standards, Technical and Operational
• DHA news: NABIDH stakeholder workshop (January 2023)
• Gulf News: All Dubai hospitals to join NABIDH (October 2022)
• DH Arab: NABIDH connects 1,300+ facilities (November 2024)
• DoH Circular 10/2026: Mandatory Malaffi onboarding
• DoH Circular 171/2026: Malaffi onboarding for TCAM centres
• DoH: Riayati, Malaffi and NABIDH integration (January 2023)
• Gulf News: Malaffi Health patient app launch
• MOHAP: Riayati platform
• MOHAP: Riayati platform initiative

Published 18 Oct 2026 · Access One