Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman

International health care leaders will deliberate on building world class health care standards and practices for the Kingdom at the eHealth and Beyond Conference and Exhibition 2017, which will open in Riyadh on April 10.

Organized by the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Middle East 2030, it will take place under the patronage of Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

The Kingdom’s SR270 billion ($72 billion) health care plan under Vision 2030 will set Saudi Arabia on a fast growth trajectory in the sector, projected to be a SR92.6 billion market by 2020. Partial growth will be technology and informatics driven.

“The Kingdom will benefit from health information systems that help avoid waste and unnecessary health care services. Telemedicine will also help serve the pressing needs of patients around the Kingdom,” Dr. Yacoub Al-Mazrou, secretary-general of the Saudi Health Council, said.

“The Medical Services Department at the Ministry of Defense is undertaking the journey of health care transformation, and IT is a key enabler. Our strategic approach is the harmonization of processes, and adoption of the best medical and clinical practices to achieve the unification of all our patients’ medical records. Consequently, we will be able to exchange health data with other health care organizations in the Kingdom. We are pleased to have so many strong partners join us in this event to enable us toward this goal,” said Maj. Gen. Dr. Suliman Mohamed Al-Malik, CEO of the Medical Services Department at the Ministry of Defense.

Results are already visible in some industries. Capital investments in technology are being prepared for immediate modernization of health care services. It is estimated that major public health care organizations have SR4 billion for digital health care transformation beginning this year.

The Kingdom has set itself an ambitious goal of registering 70 percent of all existing Saudis in a unified health care system, dramatically transforming patient care and pre-treatment briefings.

Governance is now even more important as the private sector is slowly taking parts of medical delivery from the public sector. Health care organizations in the Kingdom are expected to work with the health system to enhance accountability with regards to quality issues and patient safety, and grow tenfold in the next three years.

Jeremy Bonfini, executive vice president for HIMSS International, noted: “On the 10th of April, we will double the number of certified digital hospitals in the Kingdom. The diversity of KSA hospitals achieving this recognition demonstrates that digital health care excellence is possible in any health care environment in the Kingdom. The successes and best practices here in Saudi Arabia in achieving Stage 6 and 7 on the HIMSS Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model showcase how the health care sector can achieve the 2030 Unified Medical Record Goal.”