Qatar

Healthcare System

Qatar operates a largely government-funded healthcare system centered around Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), which provides the vast majority of public secondary and tertiary care. Sidra Medicine provides specialized pediatric and women's health care. The Primary Health Care Corporation (PHCC) manages primary care across Qatar. Qatar has invested heavily in healthcare infrastructure (hosting FIFA World Cup 2022 drove major capacity expansion). A mandatory health insurance scheme (Seha) is developing to cover all residents. Qatar is an emerging medical tourism destination and sends patients abroad for ultra-specialized care. ICD-10 (WHO edition) is used for clinical coding; CPT is adopted for outpatient and procedural billing.

System Type: Centralized public system with growing private sector and mandatory expatriate insurance
Regulatory Body: MOPH (Ministry of Public Health) — drug registration, professional licensing, health facility accreditation, controlled substance scheduling.
Data Protection: Law No. 13 of 2016 on Personal Data Privacy Protection. Health data classified as sensitive personal data. MOPH guidelines on electronic health records and data sharing. Qatar's cybersecurity law (Law No. 14 of 2014) also applies.
Currency: QAR
Emergency Number: 999 (police, ambulance, fire — unified emergency number via Hamad Ambulance)
Languages: ar, en

Coding Systems

diagnosis

ICD-10 (WHO edition)

Qatar MOPH and HMC use the standard WHO ICD-10 classification for clinical coding. Not ICD-10-AM (Australian Modification) nor ICD-10-CM (US modification) — the international WHO base edition. Qatar-DRG grouper uses ICD-10 WHO as input.

procedures

CPT (American Medical Association)

Qatar adopted CPT procedure codes for outpatient billing and insurance claims, aligned with Gulf region practice (similar to UAE/SA). CPT is the dominant procedure coding system in both public (HMC) and private sector billing.

dental

FDI (ISO 3950)

Federation Dentaire Internationale two-digit notation used across Qatari dental practices, both public (HMC dental) and private.

drg

Qatar-DRG (under development, AR-DRG framework)

Qatar is developing a national DRG system based on the Australian Refined DRG (AR-DRG) framework, similar to neighboring Gulf states. Not yet fully deployed — inpatient hospital payments transitioning to DRG-based system.

drugs

MOPH Drug Registration (Qatar National Drug Formulary)

MOPH Department of Pharmacy and Drug Control manages drug registration and the Qatar National Drug Formulary (QNDF). Drugs must be registered with MOPH before sale. Controlled substances governed by Law No. 2 of 2015 (Combating Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances). HMC maintains its own formulary aligned with QNDF.

Translation Corridors

QA→IN (critical: Indian workers returning home, sending medical records to Indian family physicians or insurers) QA→NP (Nepali migrant worker records) QA→PH (Filipino OFW records for PhilHealth) IN→QA (Indian workers needing medical history for HMC enrollment or treatment continuation) QA→US (elite medical tourism to US specialists) QA→DE (government-sponsored referrals to Germany — specialized procedures) QA→GB (Qatar nationals and British expats — London clinics, NHS specialist access)

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