Saudi Ministry of Health holds heart forum led by GE Healthcare Partners
The Saudi Ministry of Health has gathered this month for a three-day forum on the development of heart-related services in the Kingdom.
Held at the Bay La Sun Hotel in King Abdullah Economic City in Rabegh, the Heart Forum 2019 has seen leaders from the Saudi Ministry of Health (MOH) gather for three days of presentations and reviews on the development of heart services in Saudi Arabia over the past three years, with the ministers’ retreat designed and led by specialist healthcare consultancy GE Healthcare Partners.
Named a 2018 winner in the international category at the prestigious UK MCA awards for its work on a highly successful patient-centred productivity project in Saudi Arabia – and again lauded this year for a fresh transformation assignment with the Dubai Health Authority – GE Healthcare Partners has in recent years been working closely with the Saudi Ministry of Health on a range of initiatives.
At the Heart Forum 2019, launched by Saudi Health Minister Dr. Tawfiq bin Fawzan Al-Rabiah and with Vice-Minister for Health Affairs Hamad Al-Duweila among those in attendance, the gathered delegates discussed developments in the Kingdom related specifically to cardiac services – with myocardial ischemia and coronary artery disease cited as the leading cause of death in the Kingdom in 2017, claiming 61 lives per 100,000 citizens.“The MOH adopts a number of pillars to develop preventive services for heart patients by launching initiatives such as walking, smoking cessation, diabetes control, calories control and controlling the use of hydrogenated oils, in addition to facilitating access to heart services,” said Al-Rabiah in a speech. “The initiatives also include reducing the intake of salt and sugar, monitoring trans-fat, as well as controlling the quality and efficiency of heart services.”
Among the service initiatives under review, the Ministry stated its intention to enhance its technology usage in areas such as patient home-monitoring and e-prescriptions, expand training and scholarships in the field, and spread cardiac catheterisation departments and centers provincially, with the ministry monitoring efficiency indicators in four key areas; cardiac services, cardiac catheterisation, open-heart surgery, and continuing education.
In addition to the presentations, the forum featured a workshop aimed at coming up with recommendations to further improve access to patients and the performance, quality and delivery of cardiac services, including a discussion on infrastructure projects, supplies and the local sector workforce – with a second workshop held to evaluate senior MOH officials including those overseeing the Kingdom’s cardiac centers.
“The welfare and well-being of our people is a fundamental priority of the leadership, and we see significant opportunity in leveraging digital solutions for boosting healthcare delivery. GE’s partnership with the Ministry of Health is a pioneering example of how Saudi Arabia is redefining our health care landscape through best-in-class solutions,” Al-Rabiah said previously, following the successful first phase of a digital transformation initiative with GE Healthcare.