NABIDH integration connects your telehealth platform’s patient records to Dubai’s health information exchange, run by the Dubai Health Authority (DHA). Malaffi integration does the same for Abu Dhabi under the Department of Health (DOH). For a Dubai telehealth service it is not optional: the DHA telehealth standard says the health records system “shall integrate with Nabidh”. In practice, you build one integration layer that speaks HL7 v2 and FHIR R4, maps your data to UAE code sets, and matches patients on Emirates ID.
Quick answer
- NABIDH is Dubai’s exchange, Malaffi is Abu Dhabi’s, and Riayati serves MOHAP facilities.
- DHA recommends HL7 v2 for submitting data and expects FHIR R4 and IHE profiles to be supported too.
- Diagnoses, labs, terms and drugs must be coded, not free text.
- Emirates ID is the main patient identifier; visitors need a passport path.
- Plan for several rounds of test messages before go-live.
What NABIDH is, and where Malaffi and Riayati fit
NABIDH stands for National Backbone for Integrated Dubai Health. The DHA’s own interoperability standard describes it as a platform connecting public and private facilities in Dubai to exchange trusted health information.
Malaffi is Abu Dhabi’s equivalent under DOH, and Riayati serves facilities regulated by the federal Ministry of Health and Prevention (MOHAP). A 2026 legal overview of UAE telehealth rules lists integration with the relevant exchange among the obligations for telehealth services.
If you serve patients in more than one emirate, design for all three from the start. Your internal data model stays the same. Only the outbound adapters and code maps change.
The standards behind NABIDH integration
The DHA published version 2 of its Standards for Interoperability and Data Exchange (code DHA/HISHD/ST-02) on 2 April 2025, effective 2 July 2025. The key points for developers:
- HL7 v2 is the recommended standard for accessing and submitting data.
- Systems should also support FHIR and IHE (Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise) messaging.
- Accepted standards include HL7 v2, HL7 v3, HL7 CDA R2 and HL7 FHIR R4.
- The standard lists FHIR APIs for patients, encounters, allergies, conditions, procedures, medications, immunizations, observations, results and clinical documents.
It also maps IHE profiles to transports. Patient identity feeds (PIX) and demographics queries (PDQ) run on HL7 v2 over MLLP. Cross-community access and document sharing (XCA, XDS) use SOAP. The mobile profiles PDQm, PIXm and MHD use FHIR over REST.
Integration teams report that HL7 v2.5.1 still carries most live facility traffic, while newer work leans on FHIR R4. One Dubai integrator advises designing for both, because a single-standard build usually needs rework. That matches what the DHA standard asks for.
A reference message flow
Most teams put an integration engine between the telehealth app and the exchange. Mirth Connect (now NextGen Connect) is a common choice. The engine:
- Listens for events in your platform: registration, appointment, consultation closed, prescription issued, lab result received.
- Builds the right message: an HL7 v2 ADT for registration and visits, ORU for results, or a FHIR bundle for documents.
- Validates required fields before sending, because missing fields are the most common rejection reason.
- Sends over the agreed transport and records the acknowledgement.
- Retries failures and alerts your support team when messages keep failing.
Keeping this outside your core app means DHA specification updates do not force a mobile release.
Coding: why free text gets rejected
NABIDH and Malaffi expect coded clinical data. Integrators working on both exchanges report the same set of code systems:
- ICD-10 for diagnoses
- SNOMED CT for clinical terms
- LOINC for lab results
- Dubai Drug Code for medications in Dubai
The practical fix is to code at the point of entry. Give doctors searchable pick-lists for diagnoses and drugs in the consultation screen, instead of mapping free text later. For telehealth, this also speeds up e-prescriptions.
Patient identity: Emirates ID first
Integrators describe Emirates ID as NABIDH’s primary patient identifier, with passports used for visitors. Malaffi integration guides say the same for Abu Dhabi, and warn that a wrongly captured ID leads to rejected or misattributed records.
Capture and validate Emirates ID at sign-up. Add a clear visitor path, because DHA’s telehealth standard allows consultations for GCC and international patients visiting Dubai.
Onboarding steps
Public guides from integrators describe a similar path. Confirm current steps with DHA or DOH, because they update their process.
- Hold a valid facility licence with telehealth authorisation.
- Submit the facility onboarding form through the exchange’s process.
- Sign the participation agreement.
- Send test messages in the test environment.
- Fix validation errors until messages pass.
- Go live and monitor acknowledgements.
Our article on custom telemedicine platforms in the UAE explains how integration fits into the wider build, and how to start a telemedicine business in the UAE covers the licence you need first.
Security and hosting around the integration
Exchange connections carry identifiable health data, so the usual controls apply: encryption in transit and at rest, role-based access, multi-factor authentication for staff, and audit logs of every submission and query. UAE health data must stay in the country unless an exception applies. See our guide to secure cloud architecture for telemedicine apps.
Common mistakes
- Building only FHIR.
DHA still recommends HL7 v2 for submission. - Leaving coding for later.
Free-text diagnoses and drug names block submission. - Optional-looking fields left empty.
Required-field gaps cause most test rejections. - No visitor ID path.
Tourists and GCC visitors break Emirates ID-only matching. - Integration logic inside the mobile app.
Put it on the server, behind an engine. - One-emirate thinking.
A Dubai-only design costs more to extend to Malaffi later.
FAQ
Is NABIDH integration mandatory for telehealth in Dubai?
The DHA telehealth standard (version 4) says the health records system shall integrate with NABIDH, so plan for it as a requirement.
Does NABIDH use HL7 or FHIR?
Both. DHA’s interoperability standard recommends HL7 v2 for submitting data and expects FHIR R4 and IHE profiles to be supported as well.
What is the difference between NABIDH and Malaffi?
NABIDH is Dubai’s health information exchange under DHA. Malaffi is Abu Dhabi’s under DOH. The standards are similar, but each has its own profiles, onboarding and rules.
Can one platform connect to both?
Yes. Keep one internal data model and add a separate adapter and code map for each exchange.
