Running Head: MINISTRY OF HEALTH (MOH) VISION AND STRATEGY 1

Case Study: Ministry of Health (MOH) Vision and Strategy

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Case Study: Ministry of Health (MOH) Vision and Strategy

Introduction

Saudi Arabia’s health care system is entirely the responsibility of the government in

providing health care services through various agencies instituted by the government. However,

the government has embraced participation of the private sector in providing health care services

to the people (Al-Ahmadi & Roland, 2005). The Ministry of Health is the major agency that is

entrusted by the government with the responsibility of providing preventive, curative, and

rehabilitative health care to the citizens of Saudi Arabia Kingdom. The ministry gives the

members of the society primary health care services in the government established health care

facilities spread across the entire kingdom. In order to give excellent and quality health care

services, the ministry has established specific strategies and vision that will motivate

performance in terms of health care services provision. This paper will discuss interoperable

electronic health records, equitable care standards, and governance and accountability as main

ideas in realizing the vision of realizing improved health care delivery to all citizens throughout

the Kingdom (Almalki, FitzGerald & Clark, 2011).

Interoperable Electronic Health Records

The Ministry of Health in Saudi Arabia has been slow to integrate technology in the

health care system. This situation has been however overturned with the increased utilization of

electronic health care systems in a good number of organizations and hospitals in the Kingdom.

Some of the institutions which have witnessed integration of electronic health care systems
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include university hospitals, medical services of the army forces, National Guard health affairs,

and King Faisal Specialist hospital and research centre. Despite slow process of integrating

electronic technology in health care provision in the Kingdom, a significant number of

information systems have been installed and are operating in central hospitals and in the regional

directorates (Altuwaijri, 2008).

The biggest challenge with these information systems is that they are not interconnected

with each other so that they can communicate within the public sector, private sector, or even in

specialized health organizations. In order to hasten the process of e-health integration in the

health care system, the government allocated $ 1.1 billion to the Ministry of Health to utilize in

the period running from 2008 to 2011. For purpose of achieving successful implementation of

the program, the Ministry of Health has held a series of conferences that have had an objective of

emphasizing on the importance of e-health as a sure way of enhancing delivery of quality of

health care policies, infrastructure, applications, and strategies (Altuwaijri, 2008). There is dire

need for more coordination among various healthcare providers so as to enhance the integration

of e-health strategies. This will ultimately lead to a comprehensive national system for health

information.

The discussion of this topic is very important as it indicates how the government has not

been left behind in terms of embracing the advantages that have been brought by technology.

With full implementation of the e-health system, the quality of health care will be improved

since communication between health care provided will be tremendously boosted. In addition,

the patient information collected will be stored electronically, as opposed to the traditional way

of recording in paper, which can be easily destroyed, lost, or misappropriated. Electronic

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recording will guarantee more security of information, improved search of patient information,

as well as enhanced storage for future reference. In addition, developments of the e-health

systems will imply that the information regarding the patients will be available in various

hospitals, unlike previously whereby the information of the patient is domiciled in one healthcare

facility.

Equitable Care Standards

The Ministry of Health has established a number of policies programs to ensure that all

citizens get access to equitable care standards. The government has been categorical and

dedicated in optimizing the accessibility of health care services by all citizens. In this regard,

health care facilities have been evenly distributed throughout the Kingdom and there has been

tremendous equity in terms of access to health care professionals and practitioners. In addition,

the government has established transport systems to the health care centers to ease access of

health care services by all patients (Al-Ahmadi & Roland, 2005).

Despite the efforts by the government to bring equity in terms of health care provision,

there have been challenges, which probably have slowed down achievement of the vision and

strategy implementations. The Ministry of Health has noted with a lot of concern that there is

significant misdistribution of healthcare services and providers across the nation. In the hospitals,

there have been long waiting lists and queuing, which indicates that service provision in the

health sector is yet to be optimized (Almalki, FitzGerald & Clark, 2011). The disadvantaged

groups such as the disabled, elderly, pregnant women and others with special needs have not

received any considerable attention from the healthcare providers. There are also some remote

areas without effective transport systems and government should alleviate such situations.
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This topic is important for discussion as it gives the overview of the advancements the

government has taken in terms of ensuring equitable care standards. The strategy and vision of

the government to have this topic is to improve accessibility of health care services to all

individuals in all parts of the nation. In full implementation of the objective, there will be holistic

redistribution of health care services in general hospitals, primary health care centers, health care

providers, as well as central and specialist hospitals. In order to fully actualize the objective of

equitable care standards within stipulated time, the government needs to be more proactive in

liaising with such sectors as transport, social security services, as well as water and power

companies to alleviate the situation of the citizen’s wellness (Alomi, Alghamdi & Alattyh, 2015).

Governance and Accountability

There have been numerous processes to ensure proper governance and accountability in

the health care sector in Saudi Arabia. The objective is to realize full potential of the health care

provision as well to manage the healthcare sector in a more transparent and accountable manner.

On this cause, the government has endeavored in restructuring and reorganization of the Ministry

of Health. The Ministry of Health has been vested with the task of financing, operating,

controlling, supervising, and managing the public health sector. However, leaving all these

responsibilities to one institution has proved to be inefficient, thus calling the need for specific

steps to divide these roles to individual sub-institutions.

The government has also taken the initiative of decentralizing the health services and

autonomy of hospitals. This move has been taken to ease the pressure that has hit the Ministry of

Health to give best services to the patients. The ministry has therefore given autonomy to

regional directorates in terms of recruitment of professional staff, planning, establishing

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agreements with providers of health care services, and limited financial discretion (Almalki,

FitzGerald & Clark, 2011). Above all, the government has initiated privatization of public

hospitals as a way of guaranteeing quality provision to the patients. This move is regarded as the

best way of reforming the health care system in the Kingdom.

The issue of governance and accountability is very crucial as it indicates the steps taken

by the government to give quality healthcare services to the patients. The government has played

a critical role in terms of providing adequate funding to the health care system, hiring and

training health care professionals so as to give quality and desired health care services, as well as

providing facilities and resources that will enhance quality of health care provided in the centers

(Alomi, Alghamdi & Alattyh, 2015). For instance, privatization of the hospitals will be

advantageous in speeding up decision-making, producing new financial sources to the ministry,

reduce the expenditure by government on health care, and generally improve the healthcare

services. All these aspects are consistent with the government’s strategy and vision of improving

health care service delivery to all citizens.

Conclusion

From the discussions of this paper, it is clear that the government of Saudi Arabia has

prioritized healthcare provision to a high degree. With the established strategies and vision, the

quality of health care will be greatly enhanced and wellbeing of the citizens will be realized. The

government participation in providing health care in the nation has advanced greatly over the

past few years at all levels. As a result, the health situation of the population in Saudi Arabia has

remarkably improved. The many reforms introduced by the Ministry of Health have has a

positive impact, especially the emphasis on the primary health care. However, the achievements
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realized have been faced with numerous challenges, which call for more dedication is

stakeholders to ensure that the ultimate vision and strategies in the health care sector are realized.
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References

Al-Ahmadi, H., & Roland, M. (2005). Quality of primary health care in Saudi Arabia: a

comprehensive review. International Journal for Quality in Health Care, 17(4), 331-346.

Almalki, M., FitzGerald, G., & Clark, M. (2011). Health care system in Saudi Arabia: an

overview/Aperçu du système de santé en Arabie saoudite. Eastern Mediterranean health

journal, 17(10), 784.

Alomi, Y. A., Alghamdi, S. J., & Alattyh, R. A. (2015). Strategic Plan of General Administration

of Pharmaceutical Care at Ministry of Health in Saudi Arabia 2012–2022. J Pharm Scien,

1(3), 1-8.

Altuwaijri, M. M. (2008). Electronic-health in Saudi Arabia. Saudi medical journal, 29(2), 171-

178.