Interview with Mohammad El Koury

Tell us about the organisation you lead and its role in the healthcare industry.

GE HealthCare has been in Saudi Arabia for decades and remains committed to its strategy and vision 2030 for transforming healthcare and providing innovative solutions and services for our customers and their patients.

Our priority and operations align with Saudi Arabia’s focus on expanded access, improved care, greater efficiency in care delivery, and a greater focus on prevention and wellness. At GE HealthCare, we are radically focused on employing a holistic approach to value-based care, addressing key challenges across every stage of the patient’s journey, by deploying our technologies and partnering with leading global institutions in the therapeutics landscape. Our collaboration with the public and private sector in Saudi Arabia aims to re-design the model of care to improve individual access to best in class care.

What are your thoughts on the healthcare industry in Saudi Arabia and its recent development?

Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 has prioritized personalized and precision medicine. GE HealthCare is supporting clinicians in Saudi Arabia who are increasingly moving away from a traditional “one size fits all” perspective towards individualized healthcare decisions for their patients. By incorporating AI technologies and advancing imaging equipment, we are helping to connect patient data throughout a provider’s digital ecosystem so that doctors can access it how and when they want and tailor diagnoses and treatments to the individual. Looking ahead, the use of positron emission tomography (PET), alongside new imaging tracers, targeted therapeutic pairings and sophisticated detection technology, is opening the possibility for advanced diagnoses and targeted treatments, important steps in delivering greater precision diagnostics and therapeutics.

With the region’s personalized medicine market expected to reach USD 2.51 billion this year, our advanced imaging solutions will help empower clinicians to provide more precise therapies and personalized care.

Please identify some key areas of growth and the role your organisation is playing in tapping into various opportunities and partnerships.

Health technology is crucial for the success of the Kingdom’s ambition to reduce dependency on hospital care and move toward preventive health services. Saudi Arabia aims to digitalize 70 percent of patient activities by 2030 and has allocated USD 1.5 billion for healthcare IT and digital transformation programs. In line with these goals, GE HealthCare is providing advanced digital transformation solutions.

Also the Public-private partnerships (PPPs) seem to be a significant aspect of Saudi Arabia's healthcare transformation. By putting in place the necessary legislations and regulations regarding PPPs – and doing so in consultation with local and international stakeholders who bring years of experience in implementing healthcare PPPs in other markets – the Kingdom is helping create the conditions to achieve its healthcare transformation goals.

GE HealthCare brings global experience in implementing PPPs, as well as many of the elements crucial to success, including healthcare technologies, financing solutions and partners, consortium partner development, and project management. We have a regional and global track record of delivering complex projects on time and within budget.

We have found that PPPs help governments looking to expand and improve care and build new facilities without the huge upfront capital investment that this traditionally requires. As well, PPP models leverage private sector expertise to make it possible to treat more patients quickly, at a lower cost, and with improved health outcomes.

Tell us about your portfolio, recent achievements, and goals for the next 12 months.

With more than 25,000 GE HealthCare assets deployed in hospitals, clinics and other facilities across Saudi Arabia, and with a team of nearly 250 people in the Kingdom, we are well positioned to serve customers and support the ongoing advancement of the healthcare sector. GE HealthCare's strong local presence is a testament to its commitment to serving its customers and meeting their ever-evolving needs. By being close at hand, the company can better understand the unique challenges faced by healthcare providers and offer tailored solutions.

Envisioning a world where healthcare has no limits, these connected, AI-powered and data-driven solutions spanning the healthcare spectrum aim to enhance exam workflow efficiency, facilitate better patient outcomes improve productivity, and empower clinicians by maximizing diagnostic potential.

What will you be showcasing at the Global Health Exhibition 2023 and what are you looking forward to most at the event?

At GE HealthCare, we are delivering efficient and reliable technologies that help the Ministry of Health and private sector providers address on these priorities. We also are working with the Ministry to develop disease care pathways to support these goals. These can include building early-intervention systems in primary care settings, creating one-stop centers for rapid diagnosis and treatment planning for specific diseases, and providing imaging equipment and training to help clinicians at all stages of the pathway.