SEHA stays silent over new price scheme

The Abu Dhabi Company for Health Services (SEHA) has remained tight-lipped on whether it will unveil a new pricing structure for its hospitals.

Following the launch of Abu Dhabi's national insurance plan, which will see government hospitals, for the first time, compete directly with the private sector for local patients, SEHA was expected to adopt a pricing scheme closer to the market average.

However, the CEO of SEHA, Carl V. Stanifer, said any price changes would be dictated by government agencies.

"HA-AD will determine our prices and that will be negotiated with Daman, which is our biggest payer for the foreseeable future," he said. "We want to price them competitively, so we're not at the point where they have to be subsidised."

Private hospitals have expressed concern that public centre facilities, which to date have been government subsidised, will be able to undercut rival hospitals.

This is particularly significant, as many of Abu Dhabi's largest private hospitals have announced plans to enforce a 40% hike in the reimbursement fees paid by insurers.

However, Stanifer said, any negotiations with insurance firms would be hamstrung by SEHA's strong position in the emirate's market.

"We have 80-85% of the service market - it should be an arm's length discussion because our market share is quite high."

Stanifer acknowledged that government facilities must raise their game in order to retain this share, which is largely driven by the high number of national patients using the centres.

He said the government is keen to introduce a more commercial style of service to help hospitals hold their own in an open market.

"Almost all of the team that we brought in at SEHA is ex-private sector. They all know what it takes to compete successfully in that environment. "Those are the skill sets that we are trying to instill in the 15,000-odd employees that we have here."

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