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National Reference Laboratory
Improving healthcare by providing world-class clinical laboratory services to the UAE and the region The very vibrant market of laboratory management is full of opportunities and increased demand for partnership. Abdul Hamid Oubeisi, CEO of National Reference Laboratory (NRL), shares his insights. Please tell us more about National Reference Laboratory (NRL) and its relationship with Mubadala and LabCorp? National Reference Laboratory (NRL) is a network of laboratories that together with the significant resources of LabCorp, offers a comprehensive menu of more than 4,700 tests, ranging from routine tests to more cutting-edge, complex diagnoses of genetic conditions, cancers and rare diseases. NRL is part of Mubadala’s network of world-class healthcare providers and it is managed by LabCorp, the world’s leading clinical laboratory. Mubadala and LabCorp formed a partnership in 2008, the goal of which was to create a diagnostic laboratory in the UAE that would operate with the same standards as LabCorp; and thus NRL was established. With LabCorp’s support, NRL quickly became a UAE and regional leader and developed a reputation as an ethical, quality-driven, efficient and patient-centred laboratory that has reduced the need for patients and patient’s specimens to be sent abroad for analysis. How is NRL increasing the quality standards in laboratory testing and what is your impact on the healthcare sector in the region? NRL delivers the full scope of laboratory services to approximately 200 clients from the UAE and GCC, either directly or as a full management to stand-alone and on-site laboratories. Recognizing that between 70% and 80% of medical decisions are based on information obtained from laboratory tests, NRL’s robust, quality foundation and standardized
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“BETWEEN 70% AND 80% OF MEDICAL DECISIONS ARE BASED ON INFORMATION OBTAINED FROM LABORATORY TESTS.” processes provide fast, accurate and reliable laboratory services for the rapid-developing healthcare system in the UAE. Quality is an inseparable aspect of patient care, and in this regard, we are proud that NRL is a regional leader in laboratory quality management. Our laboratory management implementation model is designed such that we pursue College of American Pathologists (CAP), International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 15189 as well as Joint Commission International (JCI) accreditations, one year after commencement of services, for all laboratories that join our network where applicable. This strategic direction has enabled NRL, as of this date, to be the largest referral laboratory network in the Middle East, with six CAP accredited laboratories. Through the use of state-of-the-art technologies, a focus on science, an accredited quality management system and the employment of highly skilled, well-trained employees and our sustained accreditations status, we have positively contributed to patients’ outcomes and therefore we have fully supported the improvement of the healthcare system in general. Can you tell us more about NRL’s network of laboratories? NRL’s network is currently comprised of eight laboratories, two of which are standalone laboratories that we own in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. We manage five laboratories for Mubadala’s healthcare facilities, including
Healthpoint, the three branches of Imperial College London Diabetes Centre and the joint Anatomic Pathology Laboratory at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi. We are delighted to have recently added the laboratory of Etihad Airways Medical Centre to our network and we are working to further expand based on our highly efficient, scalable laboratory management model. You, Mr. Abdul Hamid Oubeisi, have a long career in healthcare here in the UAE and attended a number of academic programs associated with universities and institutes from the UK and USA. Can you tell us more about your role within NRL? I have been working in healthcare for more than 17 years across different verticals of the healthcare value chain including healthcare management, project development, strategy and business development, operations, and finance. I have been working for NRL in different leadership roles since its inception and have been fortunate to be a part of the business as it developed to embed my experience and knowledge into the foundation of the company before becoming CEO. Being in a position to thoroughly understand, monitor and influence the development of the laboratory market in the country, allowed me to have a clear vision and strategically lead NRL to become a fast-growing network of now eight laboratories, providing quality laboratory services and an average of half a million tests per month during 2016. Certainly, I am grateful for the highly experienced and committed NRL team, as well as the crucial support of both LabCorp and Mubadala. What is the role of NRL in providing medical laboratory services in Dubai and the Northern Emirates? While our headquarters and main testing site are based in Abu Dhabi, we are a nation-
Abdul Hamid Oubeisi, NRL’s CEO
“FURTHER COLLABORATION AND ALLIANCES ARE AT THE CORE OF OUR GROWTH PLAN AND WE ARE ACTIVELY WORKING ON INCREASING OUR ASSOCIATION WITH LOCAL AND REGIONAL COMPANIES AND ORGANISATIONS.” wide provider, as we serve clients and operate across the seven emirates of the UAE. Actually, the first laboratory of NRL opened in Dubai in 2010, and is ever since actively catering to entities from the region of Dubai and Northern Emirates, as NRL is one of the largest providers of laboratory services in that part of the UAE. We are also the exclusive laboratory partner of the Ministry of
Health and Prevention of the UAE, for their national cervical cancer screening program. Owing to our state-of-the-art logistics, we are able to collect samples from a large network of primary healthcare centres included in the program, located across Dubai, Fujairah, Ras Al Khaimah, Umm Al Quwain, Ajman and Sharjah. What are your plans for the future? Further collaboration and alliances are at the core of our growth plan and we are actively working on increasing our association with local and regional companies and organisations. This is a very vibrant market with ample opportunities and increased demand for reliable laboratory management partnerships. We are looking forward to announcing several additional collaborations that we are currently formalizing.
Furthermore, we are investing in a fully-automated laboratory solution at our main testing site in ICAD, Abu Dhabi to be completed by the end of the year. This addition will further solidify our objectives to continue to increase efficiencies, reduce errors and therefore improve turnaround time and patient outcomes. We will continue with our plan to increase the versatility and capacity of the healthcare system by integrating highly specialized and sophisticated services otherwise not available in the country, for the benefit of all patients. In this regard, supported by our partner LabCorp, we are working to establish a number of in-house Centres of Excellence that will provide comprehensive and specialised testing in areas such as molecular genetics, anatomic pathology, special coagulation, flow-cytometry, protein studies and tuberculosis testing.
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