HE the Executive President of the Financial Services Authority announced the official launch of the national health insurance platform “Dhamani”, stressing that the platform has become ready from a technical and legislative standpoint and is now providing its digital services in regulating the Omani health insurance market as an integrated national electronic platform that facilitates the exchange of data and claims related to health insurance between insurance companies and private healthcare institutions in addition to its major role in providing a unified medical file for the insurance policyholder that is accessible when the policyholder visits private health institutions.
The announcement came in a press conference on the National Health Insurance Platform “Dhamani”, which was organized by the FSA to highlight the nature of the regulatory role that the platform is concerned with and to highlight its features and advantages in improving the health insurance system in the Sultanate of Oman and how its constructive effects will be reflected on all parties of the insurance process including the insurance policyholder and private healthcare and insurance institutions.
HE Sheikh Abdullah Salem Al Salmi, Executive President of the FSA confirmed that the Dhamani platform represents a breakthrough in the development of the Omani health insurance market by utilizing the digital transformation in regulating this vital sector, which translates the priorities of the Oman National Vision 2040 manifested in supporting digital transformation processes to facilitate citizens’ access to health services and enhance the principle of insurance inclusion. He explained that the platform was able to prove its digital efficiency and effectiveness during the trial phase of its operation. The number of health insurance transactions completed through the platform by insurance companies and private healthcare institutions reached approximately three million transactions during the first quarter of 2025.
All insurance institutions have been linked to the platform in addition to linking thirty three private hospitals, which represents all private hospitals licensed by the Ministry of Health and the number of policlinics linked to the platform has reached three private healthcare policlinics so far, which is a pre-emptive step that paves the way for the actual date for the operation of all private healthcare clinics and the beginning of their transactions through the platform.
Al Salmi emphasized that the platform will address many of the challenges facing the parties of the insurance relationship in a way that ensures the provision of high-quality health insurance services, including speedy payment to private health institutions by insurance companies in addition to the creation of a database for diseases, diagnoses and treatments, which will enable the relevant authorities to conduct the necessary studies to develop the health sector, given that the platform includes the latest licenses for medical coding systems. It also enables regulators led by the FSA and the Ministry of Health to detect cases of fraud, misuse and abuse of health insurance benefits, which would reflect positively on improving inflated rates of medical expenses and the value of insurance premiums as such cases contribute significantly to their increase, not to mention the adverse impact on the insured.
Al Salmi stated that the platform provides its services to more than 650,000 health insurance policyholders with data and information exchange rate of up to 40,000 transactions per day.
It is worth noting that the platform includes the latest protocols for exchanging health information and security licenses, which can prevent cyber attacks. The requirements for this platform were prepared in partnership with the relevant authorities including the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Labor, and the one-stop station “Invest Easy.” The creation of the platform will also reflect positively in providing an attractive investment environment for the private health sector by providing the necessary guarantees for it to obtain the dues within the specified periods for payment of claims.
It is worth noting that the FSA has developed the legislative and technical infrastructure of the health insurance market by updating the laws related to health insurance to warrant the rights of individuals and companies and enhancing the FSA’s role in monitoring the insurance markets and ensuring that the companies comply with the specified laws and standards further to applying information technology and digital systems to facilitate subscription procedures, claims and payment of compensation, which contributes to improving efficiency and speed of service. The FSA was also keen to issue a number of legislations that keep pace with the digital transformation of health insurance services the most important of which is the regulation for health insurance electronic link issued vide FSA’s Decision No. 83/2023.