Healthcare System in Saudi Arabia: A Comparison between Non-Profit and For-Profit Sectors

This report offers a new hospital proposal including its governance and legal structures. In addition, benefits and drawbacks are also being discussed in relation with public-partnership partnership with good recommendations in respect with structure serving needs of population.

Running Head: HEALTHCARE 0
HEALTHCARE

HEALTHCARE 1
Table of Contents
Proposal of new Hospital...........................................................................................................2
Non-Profit Healthcare Sectors...................................................................................................2
For profit Healthcare Sectors.....................................................................................................3
Comparison between profit and non-profit healthcare systems.................................................3
Benefits and Drawbacks of non-profit and for-profit healthcare sectors...................................4
Recommendation of best structure can opt................................................................................5
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................6
References..................................................................................................................................7

HEALTHCARE 2
Proposal of new Hospital
There can be seen continuous improvement in healthcare delivery in Saudi Arabia
(SA). The Saudi healthcare system is also supported by the government of Saudi and
persistent efforts of Ministry of Health (MOH) (Aldossary, While and Barriball, 2008). In
general or private healthcare centres, there are three stages of healthcare systems i.e. primary,
secondary and tertiary. Around 19 health regions are situated in 13 geographical regions of
SA where a healthcare director manages each healthcare region (Altuwaijri, 2008). SA is also
known to be as welfare country where these healthcare systems are authorised to provide
healthcare services free to the population of country and emigrants operating in community
hospitals.
Some of the healthcare services in SA includes specialised healthcare services like
cancer treatment under provision of non-profit public healthcare sectors (Aldossary, While
and Barriball, 2008). Contradictory, wealthy individuals pay a certain amount of fee to obtain
private healthcare services. This report offers a new hospital proposal including its
governance and legal structures. In addition, benefits and drawbacks are also being discussed
in relation with public-partnership partnership with good recommendations in respect with
structure serving needs of population.
Non-Profit Healthcare Sectors
In SA, Non-profit healthcare sectors include MOH hospitals and other associations
based free of charge healthcare centres. These public hospitals include standard goals to
protect health of population and deliver necessary healthcare services to hospital employees.
Public sectors account for more than 60% of healthcare services. Moreover, there are 274
MOH hospitals under non-profit healthcare sectors (MOH, 2014).
Several university hospitals and governmental agencies like Ministry of National
Guard Health Affairs also propose non-profit healthcare services including their workers and
dependents. The arrangement of community healthcare depends upon administrative reforms
of restructuring MOH structure, procedures, regulations and policies (MOH, 2014).
MOCI (Ministry of Commerce and Industry) in Saudi reported an instrument in
relation with Non-Profit Companies Law including objective of assisting the community

HEALTHCARE 3
sector to gain overall development areas, setting up a major context, offering financial care to
non-profit work and contribute in raising of Saudi gross national products (Albejaidi, 2010).
For profit Healthcare Sectors
This sector includes private healthcare system where a fee is being charged in respect
with superior healthcare services. This sector includes clinics, private hospitals, pharmacies
and dispensaries where the services are mostly delivered to urban areas population. There are
around 145 total numbers of private hospitals in Saudi (Landry and Taylor, 2012). A good
example can be stated in term of Soliman Fakeeh hospital, includes one of the largest
healthcare systems serving employees and their dependents. On private sectors, MOH has
complete supervision with the help of medical units of commerce industry in Saudi. In
respect to specialised healthcare services, this sector needs to follow some specific rules and
procedures in respect with licensing (Landry and Taylor, 2012).
Comparison between profit and non-profit healthcare
systems
There is no charge in healthcare services provided by Non-profit healthcare services.
Their main goal is connected with welfare of community and promoting health free of charge
like MOH hospitals. MNG-HA like government hospitals delivers free healthcare services to
their employees and dependents. MOH control several public healthcare facilities while other
government agencies have their own rules and arrangement under the guidance of MOH. The
structure of board of directors in non-profit segment keenly count on the decision of board
decision a staff if require. In non-profit sectors, member vote is being allowed considering
share of healthcare centre. Contradictory, profit healthcare sectors are comprised of private
healthcare centres that give specialised healthcare services in exchange for some amount.
These are managed and owned by private enterprises and physicians. These private
healthcare sectors are administered by MOH in respect with prices of services, quality,
medications and medical equipment.

HEALTHCARE 4
Benefits and Drawbacks of non-profit and for-profit
healthcare sectors
It is significant to promote health by offering equal and accessible services to
population in respect with Saudi healthcare system. This is one of the key benefits of non-
profit healthcare sectors. These organisations are generally big in terms of capacity and
comprising more numbers of bed with serving patient needs.
However, there are some drawbacks also such as huge wastages of resources, lengthy
waiting time, huge workloads (affecting lower productivity of work), bad quality of services
and negative satisfaction of patients.
For profit healthcare sectors, benefits can be stated in terms of highly specialised
healthcare services, well employees’ compensation, length of political stance, opportunity to
direct visit to consultant in respect with healthcare services. One of great advantage includes
their capability of for profit healthcare centres to assist any functions and purposes in respect
with patient requirements.
Disadvantage of for-profit healthcare segments includes irrational high prices,
medical equipment and at times medications. In addition, mandating taxes like sales tax,
income tax and property taxes are consuming from individual savings (Hassanain, Assaf, Al-
Ofi and Al-Abdullah, 2013). Moreover, there are limited numbers of beds in private
healthcare corner.

HEALTHCARE 5
Recommendation of best structure can opt
Wide range of service is being offered by non-profit healthcare sectors embracing the
health of Saudis. However, we need to encompass how population needs can be best served
with these healthcare service and systems. Hence, to serve population needs in best way,
there is requirement of some improvement in the current non-profit healthcare services.
In case of non-profit healthcare centres, best structured can be formulated with
improvement in their systems like providing free of charge medical and preventative
healthcare services to with serving population needs in terms of high quality. It can be done
by implementing privatization plan.
Privatization will be the solution and key to overcoming healthcare expenses. Other
benefits of this solution include boosting of government economy and development of
healthcare systems. This plan can bring various opportunities for foreign healthcare
organisations to capitalise and take part in the healthcare market in SA.
It is also noted that rising population and health expenses stimulating government to
come up with considerable changes in the healthcare system (Kellermannn and Jones, 2013).
For healthcare and economic reasons, the Saudi government focused on procedure of change
with the help of a system fulfilling the health demands to Saudi population (Gough, 2010).

HEALTHCARE 6
Conclusion
Saudi health care system structure is distributed into private and public sectors, which
are also called profit and non-profit organisation respectively. SA is known to be a welfare
country where both non-profit and for-profit healthcare sectors offer various healthcare
services. In case of non-profit healthcare sectors, the healthcare service are offered free of
charge with objective to protect population health and allow every citizen to use these
services in effective ways. On the other hand, for-profit healthcare sectors offers specialised
healthcare services but charge high fees for the same. Both sectors have their benefits and
drawbacks like in case of non-profit sector, free services and high availability of beds are
considered as advantage where their drawbacks includes poor quality of service and long
waiting time. In case of for-profit sector, advantage includes quality services and political
stance while drawbacks include limited beds and high prices for the services. The best-
recommended healthcare structure fulfil the needs of population is non-profit privatized
public healthcare sector.

HEALTHCARE 7
References
Albejaidi, F. M. (2010). Healthcare system in Saudi Arabia: An analysis of structure, total
quality management and future challenges. Journal of Alternative Perspectives in the
Social Sciences, 2(2), 794-818.
Aldossary, A., While, A., & Barriball, L. (2008). Health care and nursing in Saudi
Arabia. International nursing review, 55(1), 125-128.
Altuwaijri, M. M. (2008). Electronic-health in Saudi Arabia. Just around the corner?. Saudi
medical journal, 29(2), 171-178.
Gough, B. M. (2010). Historical dictionary of Canada. United Kingdom: Scarecrow Press.
Hassanain, M. A., Assaf, S., Al-Ofi, K., & Al-Abdullah, A. (2013). Factors affecting
maintenance cost of hospital facilities in Saudi Arabia. Property Management, 31(4),
297-310.Kellermann,
Kellermann, A. L., & Jones, S. S. (2013). What it will take to achieve the as-yet-unfulfilled
promises of health information technology. Health affairs, 32(1), 63-68.
Landry, M. D., & Taylor, J. S. (2012). " The Saudi healthcare system: a view from the
minaret": more similarities than differences. World health & population, 13(3), 65-67.
MOH. (2014). MOH Strategy retrieved from:
http://www.moh.gov.sa/en/ministry/about/pages/strategy.aspx