Abu dhabi: Abu Dhabi Health Data Services (ADHDS), part of the M42 group, has been officially recognised by SNOMED International as a Global Reference Site for Data Standardisation and SNOMED CT implementation. This acknowledgment celebrates the success of Malaffi, the first Health Information Exchange in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, which has set a benchmark for healthcare interoperability both regionally and globally.
According to Emirates News Agency, the recognition was formalised through a Memorandum of Understanding signed at the 8th edition of the ZIMAM Digital Health Forum by Kareem Shahin, Chief Executive Officer of ADHDS, and Don Sweete, Chief Executive Officer of SNOMED International. As a Global Reference Site, ADHDS will serve as a model for healthcare systems across the UAE and the broader region, sharing its methodologies and best practices to advance digital transformation initiatives.
The recognition highlights the organisation's expertise in multi-stakeholder collaboration, tailored clinical reference sets, and rigorous quality assurance processes. These elements provide a scalable blueprint for healthcare systems aiming to implement effective data standardisation solutions. Malaffi's team has achieved significant success in enhancing data quality and standardisation across Abu Dhabi's healthcare ecosystem, which connects more than 3,000 healthcare facilities.
The SNOMED implementation spans multiple clinical domains, including diagnoses and chronic diseases, ensuring consistent semantic representation across diverse healthcare settings. This contributes to establishing a sustainable data standardisation model that improves clinical data quality at the source EMRs.
The implementation also lays the groundwork for AI-driven healthcare, enabling advanced analytics and improved clinical decision-making across the Emirate. The standardised data infrastructure supports real-time population health surveillance and evidence-based policymaking, enhancing patient safety and care coordination.
The success of this implementation was facilitated by the Department of Health - Abu Dhabi's guidance on coding standards and the UAE's membership in SNOMED International. Ibrahim Al Jallaf, Executive Director of Digital Health Sector at the DoH, emphasized the importance of public-private partnerships in driving transformational change in healthcare delivery.
Kareem Shahin, CEO of M42's Digital Health Solutions platform, stated that the recognition positions ADHDS as an interoperability centre of excellence. Don Sweete of SNOMED International praised ADHDS and Malaffi for their achievements, demonstrating the transformative power of SNOMED CT when implemented with proper governance and collaboration.