Saudi Arabian Ministry of Health launches GE Healthcare Health Improvement initiative

This Health Improvement initiative focuses on increasing productivity in the operating rooms of four selected MOH sites throughout the Kingdom, introducing new methods for delivering change and developing a roadmap vision for how MOH can improve healthcare provision in the short, medium and long term.

To achieve this, GE Healthcare's Performance Solutions team will deploy core GE change management tools like Lean, Six Sigma, Work-Out and Change Acceleration process (CAP) in order to drive sustainable process improvement.

GE Healthcare has been established in Saudi Arabia for more than 25 years, and has established several private and public sector partnerships to drive the growth of the Kingdom's healthcare sector.

Saudi Arabia is currently aiming at giving greater access to healthcare services to its population. A major driver in achieving this is to help the MOH's 250 hospitals to run more efficiently their manpower and technology resources. The operating room, which is at the core of the hospital, is a critical area where efficiency can be improved.

Dr. Mohammad Al Khoshim, Consultant to MOH Minister of Health said, "The Ministry of Health is pleased to partner with GE Healthcare in this ambitious initiative and we look forward to leveraging GE's international expertise in the health arena as well as its experience in leading major improvement initiatives in hospitals worldwide. Today's announcement is a critical step forward in driving our key objectives around improving access to healthcare, quality of patient care and efficiency of services."

GE Healthcare is addressing the challenge through a proactive outlook. GE recently announced that it will spend $3bn over the next six years on healthcare innovation that will help deliver better care to more people at lower cost. The company will also commit $2bn of financing and $1bn in related GE technology and content to drive healthcare information technology and health in rural and under-served areas.

These investments totaling $6bn are the foundation of GE's 'healthymagination' initiative, which is built on the global commitments of reducing costs, improving quality and expanding access for millions of people.

The MOH initiative highlights GE Healthcare's commitment to Saudi Arabia, one of the largest health markets in the region. With more than 180 talented and skilled professionals based in Saudi Arabia, GE Healthcare has a significant workforce dedicated to supporting Saudi's healthcare industry. The company has significantly invested in its strategic country service support center in Riyadh.

"The Middle East region has one of the fastest growing healthcare infrastructures. We welcome this opportunity to partner with the MOH on this important Health Improvement Initiative. What we see today is that healthcare providers are facing increasing demand from patients for more and better quality services and enhanced performance and profitability from shareholders," said Aziz Koleilat General Manager, Middle East and Pakistan at GE Healthcare.

"GE's 'healthymagination' strategy addresses the need for sustainable healthcare mechanisms, which will be vital in helping to transform healthcare delivery across the region," he added.

The Ministry of Health is partnering with GE Healthcare to lead this important initiative focused on improving the quality and efficiency of the healthcare delivered. The initiative will begin by focusing on evaluating and improving the performance of Surgical Services and the operating rooms, as this is a key ingredient to any hospital's overall quality of services.

Four hospitals, King Saud Medical Center-Riyadh, Prince Salman Hospital-Riyadh, King Fahad General Hospital-Jeddah and King Abdul Aziz Oncology Medical Center-Jeddah, have been chosen to take part in this first phase of Improvement work.

"Our association with the Ministry of Health for this Health Improvement initiative is a landmark agreement for GE Healthcare in Saudi Arabia," said Jan De Witte, President and CEO, Services, EMEA, GE Healthcare.

"We are privileged to share our learning materials and change management experiences with the Saudi professionals, which will have a positive impact on the Kingdom's healthcare sector. By providing a productivity solution, we are proud to be playing our part in helping to transform healthcare delivery in this country," he added.

The Health Improvement initiative was launched today by His Excellency Dr. Rabeeah and will conclude in November of this year. The four participating hospitals will focus on implementing changes to improve processes and quality of their services, as well as introducing their staff to new methods of analysis and management.

All of the benefits and lessons learned from the first phase of work will then subsequently be rolled out to the other ministry of health hospitals and to further areas of care within the hospitals.

A recent McKinsey & Company study predicts that over the next 20 years, healthcare demand will rise by 240% in the GCC countries. Healthcare infrastructure and the availability of qualified and trained personnel will need to expand considerably to cope with this demand.

GE aims to continue to address current healthcare challenges in the area of training and clinical expertise by delivering GE's innovative services and solutions focused on transforming healthcare delivery via collaborations, partnerships and regional support from the public and private sectors.