Outlook for Saudi healthcare sector 'positive' in 2018, says Batterjee

The outlook for Saudi Arabia's healthcare sector is "very positive" during 2018, Sobhi Batterjee, president and chief executive of Saudi German Hospitals Group, told Arabian Business on Tuesday.

The healthcare industry needs huge and long-term investments, he said, describing the sector as "quicksand", which sucks in unprofessional investors.

Challenges increase with more legislations, as the sector mainly focuses on people's health and safety, Batterjee said.

SGH has signed several contracts with the ministry of health, ministry of commerce, civil defense authority, Saudi Commission for Health Specialties, and the Council of Cooperative Health Insurance (CCHI).

The government reliance on the private sector offers a great opportunity to attract capital to this vital industry, he added.

Meanwhile, the entrance of insurance firms to the healthcare sector increased demand, as it allowed the low-income brackets to benefit from various services, but increased insurers' influence in controlling hospitals.

"Thirty Saudi insurance firms are competing through reducing prices, which impacts their business and the private healthcare sector. They lower prices and exercise their influence to impose these rate on service providers," Batterjee said.

He also underlined the importance of setting a minimum level for insurance policies, adding that some policies are priced at SAR 300.