The first firm to offer health services in people’s homes has been launched in Saudi Arabia in a bid to unclog overloaded hospitals, it was reported on Tuesday.
Privately-run Salam Home Healthcare company offers examinations, treatment and follow-up care in the home in the same way community services do in the US and Europe.
The company has been approved by the Ministry of Health as part of a national strategy to boost home healthcare, said the firm’s CEO Taymour Ismail. “This is the first company of its kind in Saudi Arabia. Serving patients inside their homes falls within the inclinations of the health ministry, which has approved the home healthcare as a national strategy,” he said.
Community based healthcare services had been shown in other countries to reduce patient pressures on hospitals, health centers and clinics, he said.
Studies had also shown that such services cut the cost of care by more than 60 percent, compared with hospital-based treatment.
Patients with chronic illnesses such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, who needed long-term care, were the ones who benefitted most, Ismail told Saudi daily Arab News. The company has already signed an agreement with the Dr Soliman Fakeeh Hospital in Jeddah, and then plans to establish itself in other large cities including Riyadh, Dammam, Makkah and Madinah before expanding to smaller towns and cities.
“We will work side by side with hospitals in the Kingdom as we complement each other,” Ismail concluded.
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