Privacy Policy

Your Information. Your Rights. Our Responsibilities. 

This notice describes how medical information about you may be used and disclosed and how you can get access to this information. Please review it carefully. 

Your Rights 

DHA has specified your Rights and Responsibilities in the Charter of Patient Rights and Responsibilities. They are listed here: 

Patient Rights 

Being a valued patient in the Dubai Health Authority, you and your family have the following rights:

1. Receive a written copy of the Patient and Family Bill of Rights from reception, registration office, or Communication and Customer Relations Office. If, for any reason, you don’t understand them, please contact the Administrative Officer in the Health Center or Communication and Customer Relations Office (Toll-free No: 800342 or 800DHA) for any help including providing an interpreter (if any). 
2.  Receive impartial care respecting your personal values and beliefs from all staff without discrimination, according to DHA rules and regulations. 
3. Receive comprehensive medical care aiming at reaching proper medical diagnosis and treatment of your illness and/or injury. 
4. Receive immediate care in emergency cases. 
5. Know the identity (name & specialty) of the physician responsible for your care.
6. Receive from the health care team in a simple understandable manner comprehensive information about your diagnosis, proposed treatment, any changes in your health status and causes of such changes, alternative treatment, probabilities of treatment success or failure, therapy advantages and disadvantages (if any), possible problems related to treatment and expected results of ignoring the treatment. 
7. Have an interpreter (upon availability) if the language presents a barrier to understanding details of your comprehensive medical care. 
8. You have the right to have a person of one’s own sex present during certain parts of a physical examination, treatment or procedure performed by a health professional of the opposite sex and the right not to remain disrobed any longer than is required for accomplishing the medical purpose for which disrobing was needed. 
9. Participate in your care decision-making. DHA encourages patients, parents, or legal guardians, to the extent they wish, to participate in planning and implementing the treatment with nurses and physicians. 
10. Obtain a medical report and a copy of medical test results from the medical records section (upon your request), for which the health center will charge according to DHA rules and regulations. 
11. Enjoy privacy while carrying out all examinations, procedures, and treatment at the health center, and confidentiality of all your information. 
12. Choose the treating doctor (depends on availability), in addition to reject him/her upon furnishing a genuine reason. 
13. Refuse the treatment (if wish so). Thus, the treatment doctor must inform you of the medical consequences of your refusal. Accordingly, you shall sign a form prepared to that effect.
14. Refuse examination or access to your treatment details by any person not directly responsible for your care. For persons who are not directly involved in your treatment, must have your prior permission to attend your case discussion, examination and treatment. 
15. Be protected during treatment from any physical, verbal or psychological assault.
16. Receive information from the treating doctor (in case you would like to donate any body organ) about the donation process including advantages and disadvantages (if any).
17. Have a family member or guardian as an escort depending on your health status, as per DHA rules and regulations. However; due to medical reasons, certain units do not allow this.
18. Receive complete explanation of causes to be transferred to another care center (should need arise), consequent obligations (financial and administrative, if any) and alternatives. Then, the Health Center management will take all necessary arrangements to obtain the alternate medical center approval to receive the referred patient before starting the transfer process. 
19. Receive upon your request an itemized bill explaining all charges regardless paid by yourself or by another source. 
20. Complain, suggest and comment on services through the Communication and Customer Relations Office (Toll Free 800342). 
21. View your medical record under the supervision of the treating doctor or a medical team staff, according to DHA rules and regulations. 
22. DHA respects your right to appropriate assessment and management of pain through evidence-based practices and provides you with all necessary information in this regard.
23. In case of any new scientific research conducted by DHA pertaining to your treatment, your doctor will inform you on all related issues including potential benefits and risks, therapeutic alternatives and medical research protocol details. 
24. If you are asked to participate in medical research, you have the right to give a written consent or refuse. On the other hand, you have the right to end your participation at any time for any reason, noting that this will not compromise the quality of medical services provided to you. 
25. DHA is committed to provide terminally ill and dying patients with decent and compassionate care respecting their unique needs, according to DHA rules and regulations. 

Patient Responsibilities 

Being a valued patient in Dubai Health Authority, you and your family have the following responsibilities: 

1. Respect the Health Center’s rules and regulations. 
2. Show consideration for others and deal with other patients and staff with respect.
3. Respect the privacy and comfort of other patients. 
4. Provide complete and accurate information about present complaints, past illness, previous hospitalization and treatment and any known allergy. 
5. Follow the treating doctor’s instructions. 
6. Give your written General Consent for treatment at DHA upon visit to the Health Center.
7. Give your written informed consent before any minor surgery, anesthesia or any other procedures that entail your written consent (according to DHA rules and regulations); after receiving all information that you may need. This must include the procedure benefits, available alternatives and all possible risks (if any). 
8. Hold the responsibility for refusing or not following the treatment plan, after being informed of consequences. 
9. Avoid delay in taking appointments from the Medical Records section, as soon as it is requested by the doctor. 
10. Attend the appointment on time. If you want to cancel it, inform the Medical Records Section 48 hours in advance. 
11. Respect the priority given to emergency cases. 
12. Observe safety regulations including the no-smoking policy, maintaining the cleanliness of the place, hand hygiene, etc. 
13. Ensure that financial obligations due for DHA are fulfilled promptly (if any).
14. Give requested samples and attend medical checkup on time. 
15. Avoid bringing valuable personal belongings to the Health Center. The Health center will not be held responsible for damage or loss of such belongings. However, in emergency cases, you must notify nurses and give them these valuables in the presence of the Health Center’s security staff against duly signed special forms.

You must keep a copy of this form and verify the recipient’s official identity. The Health Center management is not responsible for any consequences resulting from non-adherence to above instructions. 

In addition to these, 

You have the right to: 

• Get a copy of your paper or electronic medical record 
• Correct your paper or electronic medical record 
• Request confidential communication 
• Ask us to limit the information we share 
• Get a list of those with whom we’ve shared your information 
• Get a copy of this privacy notice 
• Choose someone to act for you 
• File a complaint if you believe your privacy rights have been violated 

Your Choices 

You have some choices in the way that we use and share information as we:

• Tell family and friends about your condition 
• Provide disaster relief 
• Include you in a hospital directory 
• Provide mental health care 
• Market our services 

We will never sell your information of use your information to raise funds 

Our Uses and Disclosures 

We may use and share your information as we: 

• Treat you 
• Run our organization 
• Bill for your services 
• Help with public health and safety issues 
• Do research 
• Comply with the law 
• Address law enforcement and other government requests 

Your Rights 

When it comes to your health information, you have certain rights. This section explains your rights and some of our responsibilities to help you. 

• Get an electronic or paper copy of your medical record 
  • You can ask to see or get an electronic or paper copy of your medical record and other health information we have about you. Ask us how to do this. 
  • We will provide a copy or a summary of your health information, usually within 30 days of your request. We may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee. 
• Ask us to correct your medical record 
  • You can ask us to correct health information about you that you think is incorrect or incomplete. Ask us how to do this. 
  • We may say “no” to your request, but we’ll tell you why in writing within 60 days.
• Request confidential communications 
  • You can ask us to contact you in a specific way (for example, home or office phone) or to send mail to a different address. 
  • We will say “yes” to all reasonable requests. 
• Ask us to limit what we use or share
  • You can ask us not to use or share certain health information for treatment, payment, or our operations. We are not required to agree to your request, and we may say “no” if it would affect your care. 
  • If you pay for a service or health care item out-of-pocket in full, you can ask us not to share that information for the purpose of payment or our operations with your health insurer. We will say “yes” unless a law requires us to share that information. 
• Get a list of those with whom we’ve shared information 
  • • You can ask for a list (accounting) of the times we’ve shared your health information for six years prior to the date you ask, who we shared it with, and why. 
    • We will include all the disclosures except for those about treatment, payment, and health care operations, and certain other disclosures (such as any you asked us to make). We’ll provide one accounting a year for free but will charge a reasonable, cost-based fee if you ask for another one within 12 months. 
• Get a copy of this privacy notice 
  • You can ask for a paper copy of this notice at any time, even if you have agreed to receive the notice electronically. We will provide you with a paper copy promptly.
• Choose someone to act for you 
  • If you have given someone medical power of attorney or if someone is your legal guardian, that person can exercise your rights and make choices about your health information. 
  • We will make sure the person has this authority and can act for you before we take any action. 
• File a complaint if you feel your rights are violated 
  • You can complain if you feel we have violated your rights by contacting us using the information on page 1. 
  • You can file a complaint with DHA at 800342 (800 DHA) or emailing info@dha.gov.ae ○ Or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights by sending a letter to 200 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20201, calling 1-877-696-6775, or visiting https://www.dha.gov.ae/en/privacy-policy. 
  • We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint. 

Your Choices 

For certain health information, you can tell us your choices about what we share. If you have a clear preference for how we share your information in the situations described below, talk to us. Tell us what you want us to do, and we will follow your instructions. 

• In these cases, you have both the right and choice to tell us to: 
• Share information with your family, close friends, or others involved in your care
• Share information in a disaster relief situation 
• Include your information in a clinic directory 

If you are not able to tell us your preference, for example if you are unconscious, we may go ahead and share your information if we believe it is in your best interest. We may also share your information when needed to lessen a serious and imminent threat to health or safety. 

In these cases we never share your information unless you give us written permission: 

• Marketing purposes 
• Most sharing of psychotherapy notes 

Our Uses and Disclosures 

How do we typically use or share your health information? 

We typically use or share your health information in the following ways. 

Treat you 

We can use your health information and share it with other professionals who are treating you.

Example: A doctor treating you for an injury asks another doctor about your overall health condition. 

Run our organization 

We can use and share your health information to run our practice, improve your care, and contact you when necessary. 

Example: We use health information about you to manage your treatment and services. 

Bill for your services 

We can use and share your health information to bill and get payment from health plans or other entities. 

Example: We give information about you to your health insurance plan so it will pay for your services. 

How else can we use or share your health information? 

We are allowed or required to share your information in other ways – usually in ways that contribute to the public good, such as public health and research. We have to meet many conditions in the law before we can share your information for these purposes. For more information see: https://www.dha.gov.ae/en/privacy-policy

or 

www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/understanding/consumers/index.html. 

Help with public health and safety issues 

We can share health information about you for certain situations such as:

• Preventing disease 
• Helping with product recalls 
• Reporting adverse reactions to medications 
• Reporting suspected abuse, neglect, or domestic violence 
• Preventing or reducing a serious threat to anyone’s health or safety 
• Do research 
  • We can use or share your information for health research. 
• Comply with the law 
  • We will share information about you if UAE laws require it, including with DHA and the Department of Health and Human Services if it wants to see that we’re complying with federal privacy law. 
• Work with a medical examiner if requested. 
  • We can share health information with a coroner, medical examiner, or funeral director when an individual dies. 
• Address law enforcement and other government requests 

We can use or share health information about you: 

• For law enforcement purposes or with a law enforcement official 
• With health oversight agencies for activities authorized by law 
• For special government functions such as military, national security, and presidential protective services 
• Respond to lawsuits and legal actions 
• We can share health information about you in response to a court or administrative order, or in response to a subpoena. 

Our Responsibilities 

• We are required by law to maintain the privacy and security of your protected health information. 
• We will let you know promptly if a breach occurs that may have compromised the privacy or security of your information.
• We must follow the duties and privacy practices described in this notice and give you a copy of it. 
• We will not use or share your information other than as described here unless you tell us we can in writing. If you tell us we can, you may change your mind at any time. Let us know in writing if you change your mind. 
  • For more information see:  
    

    www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/understanding/consumers/noticepp.html. 

Personal Health Information Privacy Protection notice, issued in accordance with the UAE Federal Law 45 of 2021 on the Protection of personal data, UAE Federal Law 2 of 2019 on the Use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Health Fields, HIPAA standards, and with Standards issued by DHA and other Health Authorities 

Effective November 2022 

Our application’s use of information received from Health Connect will adhere to the Health Connect Permissions Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.

For questions or concerns please contact the GluCare Privacy Officer: 

Carolyn Palsky 

Head of Operations 

GluCare Integrated Diabetes Center 

268 Al Wasl Road 

Jumeirah 1, Dubai, UAE 

042201570 

info@glucare.health