Greg White was speaking to Arab News on the sidelines of the Saudi e-health conference 2012, which was opened by Intelligence chief Prince Muqrin on Sunday.

White, whose company demonstrated the leading-edge technologies for surgery and anesthesia, electronic medical record, laboratory and pharmacy, delivered a talk on latest technologies of health care, Cerner’s expansion in the region, and the plan for 2012 and beyond at one of the sessions.

“Saudi Arabia, which leads health care expenditure in GCC, has the largest health infrastructure with 408 hospitals and an estimated 55,932 beds, given its highest population. It is also expected that the health care market in the Kingdom will expand at a compound annual growth rate of 12 percent to $25.7 billion in 2015,” he said.

White added that the Saudi government planned to build medical colleges and hospitals at all 24 government universities in the country to increase the number of Saudi physicians. The automated care sector in particular is expanding, due in part to the Kingdom’s strong information technology base. Factors such as new regulatory policies for medical equipment and supplies and the need for new polyclinics in the future are driving demand for more advanced medical devices in the Kingdom even further.

“Saudi Arabia continues to lead an important role in managing local health issues, such as obesity and diabetes, which need enhanced methods of detection, prevention and care, especially in terms of patient health information management,” said White.

“Improving the health care industry mandates that hospitals adopt health care information systems (HIS) to provide better patient care and improve the overall community health. These include on-time access of patient data such as personal data, allergies, lab results, radiology exams and reports, comprehensive clinical documentation and medication history as well as current treatment plan.

Clinical reporting, auditing and quality improvements are well perceived and accepted by managers and quality department staff. Medical research is also an added value to HIS,” White commented.

HIS providers should be fully aware why health care institutions are in great need to adopt an electronic health record (EHR). HIS solutions should be logical, simple to use and employ evidence-based content to enable clinicians to provide better health care for patients. The single patient-single record model is another great benefit across enterprises on a nationwide level. As a result, clinicians are happier, with reduced medication errors, optimized workflow and more time available for patient care. Increased revenue to health care providers and hospitals in general is another successful result of deploying HIS within medical service, he said.

Mehmet Bilginsoy, CEO of CGM Tepe International, said that the healthcare investment in the Kingdom was expected to sustain a sharp increase over the coming years, as demand for medical facilities and a wide range of healthcare services continued to surge.

“The Kingdom’s sizeable population, which already exceeded 28 million in 2011 and continues to grow at an accelerated pace, has largely contributed to the unprecedented increase in public healthcare spending and the growing need for better-equipped hospitals and world-class healthcare infrastructure across the country.”

CGM Tepe International, a provider of scalable health information technology products and solutions for healthcare companies on a workflow-based platform, showcased its IT-based solutions at the exhibition.

Bilginsoy said, “CGM Tepe International has built a solid track record in the Kingdom as a leading provider of IT-based healthcare solutions that satisfy the distinct needs of the local market. We have provided cutting-edge solutions to a number of Saudi healthcare institutions, such as the King Fahd Medical City and other specialist hospitals. With the development of more advanced and versatile healthcare systems, CGM Tepe International is complementing efforts to upgrade and expand existing healthcare facilities and infrastructure and ultimately help healthcare institutions generate optimum value for their investments.”

Global health consultant Julia Royall explained how electronic research and information interventions, when embraced by the whole community, could make a difference in morbidity and mortality in malaria at the grassroots level.

Bandar Al-Haqbani, general director of IT services at the King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, said IT played a crucial role in the healthcare sector. The successful adoption of ICT represents a critical success factor for any healthcare provider. “The successful ICT sector is hindered by several factors, and the lack of skilled ICT personnel tops this hindrance,” he concluded.