Saudi Arabia: Hospitals step up quality for slice of insurance cake |
|
Taif - Of late, some private hospitals have taken out newspaper advertisements to announce their success in getting quality certification from the Joint Commission International (JCI), a non-profit affiliate of The Joint Commission, the largest accreditor of health care organizations in the United States, surveying nearly 20,000 health care programs through a voluntary accreditation process.
Dr. Erfan and Bagedo General Hospital, Al-Magraby Hospitals and the International Medical Center are among the well-known hospitals in Jeddah who have got JCI accreditation. Several others have also obtained international certification in recent times.
But why all the hospitals are suddenly running after international accreditation and why they are keen on publicizing their success?
The reason is stiff competition in Saudi Arabia's burgeoning medical insurance market. At present, nearly three million Saudis and foreigners are beneficiaries of the health insurance system.
According to a Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA)Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA)
report, health insurance gross written premiums increased by 38 percent to SR3 billion in 2007 compared to SR2.2 billion in 2006, representing 36 percent of the insurance market. "It is a big business - the health field," said Dr.Ashra Ismail, CEO and the president of Quality Association Inc. "All hospitals in Saudi Arabia, whether governmental or private, are running towards accreditation."
The Saudi government is making health insurance compulsory for all in the country. The multi-stage process started some years ago with expatriates and now citizens are being brought into the insurance net.
Hence, with such a huge market having opened up - Saudi Arabia's population of 26 million, including expatriates, is growing by 3 percent annually - the third party (insurance companies) will choose only the accredited hospitals, said Dr. Ismail. (See box of licensed insurance companies.)
Dr. Ismail was quick to caution about jumping to conclusions about quality just because a hospital has got an international certification.
"If the hospital is accredited by an international organization, does not mean that is error-free," he said.
"To err is human, as long there is human medical participation there will be mistakes. However, by applying the quality principles and aspects, we will reduce the percentage of mistakes. Technology like health information system, biomedical engineering, new trends in treating patients and quality control can help us make sure our medical devices and equipments are working well."
No end
Hospital accreditation is defined as "A self-assessment and external peer assessment process used by health care organizations to accurately assess their level of performance in relation to established standards and to implement ways to continuously improve"
"Accreditation is a journey that has a beginning but there is no end," Dr. Ismail said. "It continuously needs great efforts in application in order to improve quality."
JCI accreditation is awarded when a hospital satisfactorily meets all of the following: Ambulatory Care Standards, Care Continuum Standards, Clinical Laboratory Standards, Disease or Condition-Specific Care Certification, Hospital Standards and Medical Transport Standards.
The average cost for a Joint Commission International (JCI) accreditation survey of a hospital is approximately SR154,000 (about$41,000), depending on the size and complexity of the medical facility.
The amount exclude, travel, stay and food expenses. Small hospitals will require a two-day survey by two surveyors and large hospitals six days by five surveyors.
This year JCI has improved the value of accreditation by introducing new standards in new survey process called the Tracer Methodology. This new methodology increases interaction and learning during the survey and incorporates an ongoing self-assessment methodology for the hospital.
With more stringent quality evaluation, hospitals have no choice but to step up their performance.
"It is fate, not an option," Dr. Ismail said. "Many Saudi hospitals have got international accreditation, such as Aramco hospital, National Guard hospitals, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and some private hospitals like Al-Saad Private Hospital, Suleiman Faqeeh and Al-Mouasa."
He has visited many military hospitals in the Kingdom. "They have their own standards and are very good compared to international hospitals," he said.
Change management is the main challenge in bringing hospitals up to par with accreditation standards.
"Changing the theory into application takes a long time and great efforts," Dr. Ismail said. "Some people reject change for many reasons, for instance they may not want to try another job, they may be afraid of losing their existing job, or they are just too accustomed to one kind of job."
By Mohammad Murad
© The Saudi Gazette 2008
Community Comments (0) - 
Comment on this article 
Comment on this article
The opinions of the authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect Zawya. Read our Comment Policy.
Loading ...
Zawya Comment Policy:
-
Zawya encourages you to add a comment to this discussion. You agree that when you add content to this discussion your comments will not:
1.1 Contain any material which is libelous or defamatory of any person, is obscene, offensive, hateful or inflammatory or causes damage to the reputation of any person or organisation.
1.2 Promote sexually explicit material, violence, discrimination based on race, sex, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation or age or any illegal activity.
1.3 Be made in breach of any legal duty owed to a third party, such as a contractual duty or a duty of confidence.
1.4 Be threatening, abuse or invade another’s privacy, or cause annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety.
1.5 Be used to impersonate any person, to misrepresent your identity or affiliation with any person, or be likely to deceive any person.
1.6 Give the impression that they represent Zawya.
1.7 Advocate, promote or assist any unlawful act such as (by way of example only) copyright infringement or computer misuse. - The content posted on www.zawya.com is created by members of the public. The views expressed are theirs and unless specifically stated are not those of Zawya. Zawya reserves the right to review all comments prior to posting and edit or delete any contribution, but Zawya is not responsible for and can not be held liable for any content posted by members of the public on www.zawya.com.
- Zawya is not responsible for the availability or content of any third party sites that are accessible through www.zawya.com. Any links to third party websites from www.zawya.com do not amount to any endorsement of that site by Zawya and any use of that site by you is at your own risk.
- By submitting your comment, you hereby give Zawya the right, but not the obligation, to post, air, edit, exhibit, telecast, webcast, re-use, publish, reproduce, use, license, print, distribute or otherwise use your comments worldwide, in perpetuity.
Community Buzz
Stories
Companies
Most viewed companies by Community in the last 24 hrs
| Company Name | Country | Industry |
| Consolidated Contractors Company | Overseas | Construction and Design |
| Abu Dhabi Investment Council | UAE | Investment Firms and Funds |
| Dubai Islamic Bank | UAE | Banking |
| Saudi Electricity Company | Saudi Arabia | Electric Utilities |
| Saudi Binladin Group | Saudi Arabia | Construction and Design |
| Qatar Investment Authority | Qatar | Investment Firms and Funds |
| Jazeera Airways | Kuwait | Transportation Services |
| Al Rajhi Investment Group | Saudi Arabia | Investment Firms and Funds |
| Kuwait Telecommunications Company | Kuwait | Telecommunications Services |
| Saudi Arabian Oil Company | Saudi Arabia | Oil |
Projects
Most viewed projects by Community in the last 24 hrs
| Project Name | Country | Sector |
| Dubai RTA - Dubai Metro - Purple Line | UAE | Infrastructure |
| IPIC - Abu Dhabi Crude Oil Pipeline (ADCOP) | UAE | Oil and Gas |
| Emirates Aluminium (EMAL) - Smelter Complex | UAE | Industry |
| Qatar Foundation - Sidra Hospital | Qatar | Real Estate |
| Ras Tanura Integrated Refinery and Petrochemicals Complex | Saudi Arabia | Oil and Gas |
| KNPC - Al Zour Refinery | Kuwait | Oil and Gas |
| Qatalum Aluminum Smelter | Qatar | Industry |
| Abu Dhabi Municipality - Salam Street and Mina Road Development | UAE | Infrastructure |
| Nakheel - Dubai Waterfront | UAE | Real Estate |
| ADCO - SAS Field Development | UAE | Oil and Gas |