Customers covered by the national insurer Daman will soon be able to use their Emirates ID card for healthcare services.

Daman is merging customer data with that stored on Emirates ID cards, a process that will be completed next year but is already being provided to customers as their data is merged.

Those not yet able to use their ID for health care can replace their Daman cards with online services after registering on the company’s mobile app.

The new ID card system began after a pilot phase in which medical centres processed 4,000 transactions a day.

“Daman, in collaboration with Emirates ID, had already distributed about 2,000 ID card-reading devices to accredited healthcare outlets, allowing them to capture ID information on their systems,” said Hamad Al Mehays, chief executive for operations at the insurer.

“This step supports the Government’s smart services initiative and expedites processing time for customers.”

Fifty per cent of Daman claims are now reviewed and adjudicated automatically.

For the first six months of this year the insurer had an average of 2.8 million claims a month.

Card readers scan a patient’s details and send it to Daman’s servers, which identify the member’s eligibility and show the health centre the benefits under the patient’s policy.

Daman has almost three million members in the UAE.

The Ministry of Health and Prevention plans to expand the number of Seha centres in Abu Dhabi that accept insurance cards and has established an electronic claims system.

Daman and Thiqa apps serve as digital insurance cards. Members have access to details of their cover and those of their dependents. They can submit reimbursement claims from their phone and access their direct medical network claims.

Other features of the app are maps for nearby network providers, and a “one-tap” access key to Daman’s 24/7 customer-care team.

“Daman continues to be a forerunner using the most modern technology to deliver our services to our members,” said Dr Sven Rohte, the company’s chief commercial officer.

“When designing these applications, we focused on ease of use and accessibility.

“We want our apps to be efficient, to address the needs of our members clearly and efficiently on a range of devices.”