Saudi Arabia

Owned by Federica Andreoni
Last updated: Nov 04, 2024
7 min read

 

42 conjoined twins have been successfully separated by Saudi Arabia’s former Minister of Health (Al Rabeeh 2009). The paediatric surgeon, Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Rabeeah, leads a team at the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre specialising in these cases from all over the world. This is one example of the Kingdom’s investment in excellence.

Country’s healthcare system in a nutshell

Saudi Arabia introduced universal health coverage in 2019, to ensure that every Saudi citizen and resident can access healthcare at no cost. Funding for the Ministry of Health primarily derives from the annual government budget, which is largely supported by oil revenues (Almodhen and Moneir, 2023)

The healthcare system is structured into three levels: primary, secondary, and tertiary care. Primary care is offered through primary healthcare centres (PHCs), which deliver essential services such as preventive care, health education, and screening. Secondary care is provided by hospitals and specialised centres that offer more advanced services, including diagnostic procedures, surgical operations, and emergency care. The most complex treatments are handled at tertiary care hospitals, specialising in areas such as organ transplants and cancer therapy.

Despite significant improvements, the system faces ongoing challenges, including a shortage of healthcare professionals, insufficient preventive care, and notable disparities in healthcare access between urban and rural regions (Gurajala, 2023). To address these issues, the Saudi government launched the ‘Vision 2030 ’initiative, aimed at enhancing public services across various sectors, including healthcare.

As part of the initiative, in 2022, the Ministry of Health established the Health Holding Company (HHC), a state-owned enterprise designed to transform the nation's healthcare system. The HHC's mandate includes taking over the provision of healthcare services, while the Ministry’s role is shifting from service provision to supervisory and regulatory roles. 

The HHC is leading several key reforms, including:

  • Decentralisation: the HHC is responsible for creating and delegating the delivery of healthcare services to approximately 20 regional clusters, to encourage local involvement and improve responsiveness to community needs.

  • Privatisation: the HHC will privatise numerous hospitals and primary health centres.

  • Digitisation: the strategy includes a push towards digital healthcare, enhancing data interoperability and expanding access to digital and virtual medical services. This is particularly crucial for the roughly 16% of the population living in remote areas with limited healthcare services access.

  • Specialised Care Services: the HHC will offer specialised services such as cancer care, renal rehabilitation, and critical care in cardiology and trauma. A new Model of Care, encompassing 42 interventions across six healthcare systems, aims to standardise and improve treatment based on evidence-based practices.

  • Community Health: The HHC will also focus on disease prevention and early detection, aiming to improve community health across the country.

  • Workforce Development: The transformation plan includes workforce planning and development, with an emphasis on improving training standards and ensuring an adequate supply of healthcare professionals to meet the country's growing needs.

(Ministry of Health, 2022)

Public vs private

Health care spending by country in 2021 (9).svg
Source: The World Bank.
The pink column refers to the public expenditure as a % of the country’s total healthcare expenditure. The blue dot is the country’s expenditure on health per capita, expressed in international dollars at purchasing power parity.

The national PHR

History

The Saudi Ministry of Health commissioned and launched the Sehhaty application in August 2019 to achieve a number of national goals that focus on healthy lifestyles. In February 2021, the app was updated to include COVID-19 vaccination appointment registration and test booking, expanding its role in the nation's pandemic response.

The development of the application has been carried out by Lean Business Services, a state-owned enterprise (Ministry of Health, 2021).

On 2nd September 2022, the MoH announced that Sehhaty had officially become the national platform for individuals' healthcare needs. The ministry revealed plans to integrate all government health bodies with Sehhaty, ensuring the app would serve as a comprehensive platform for delivering health services.

This announcement coincided with the MoH signing a cooperation agreement with the Digital Government Authority (DGA), marking the merger of various health sector platforms into Sehhaty. The integration aimed to centralise health data sources, improve service quality, and ultimately enhance patient satisfaction (Joseph, 2022).

Features

The Sehhaty platform serves all residents of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, along with their dependents, including children, the elderly, and individuals with special needs. The app is available in both Arabic and English.

Key services provided by Sehhaty include:

  • Immediate virtual consultations

  • Booking and reviewing appointments

  • Remote appointments

  • Medication search

  • Digital Health Wallet

  • Viewing sick leave and medical reports

  • Women’s health services

  • Dependents’ services

  • A dedicated primary care doctor for each family member (My Doctor)

  • Records of children's vaccinations and appointments

  • Monitoring vital signs (via the "Know Your Numbers" service)

  • Step counting

  • Maintaining a list of medications

  • Educational content

  • Booking COVID-19 screening and vaccination appointments

  • Booking general vaccination appointments

  • Early weather condition alerts for asthmatics

(Ministry of Health, 2023)

Challenges and areas for improvement

While Sehhaty offers a wide range of services, there are areas that could be improved. For instance, the platform lacks an access log, meaning users cannot view who accessed their medical records or when. Additionally, Sehhaty does not integrate with third-party software, limiting interoperability with other health-related apps or systems.

Published outcomes - statistics

Unfortunately, we couldn’t find any statistics about the use of Sehhaty in Saudi Arabia. If you have access to this information or can put us in touch with someone who has, please contact us at book@phr4gov.org

Screenshots

Home page: search function for patients to search for their data; weather, which in case of an allergic person will suggest whether to go out or not based on pollen; step count that takes information directly from the mobile phone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bibliography

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