Teleradiology public-private partnerships in Saudi Arabia: a review

Abstract

Owing to the increasing demand for healthcare driven by population growth, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s (KSA) Ministry of Health (MOH) is actively seeking to improve the quality and efficiency of healthcare services in general and medical imaging services in particular by introducing private sector participation in its first healthcare public-private partnership (PPP) venture for teleradiology. Teleradiology will also benefit the more remote areas of the country that are currently underserved. Through the PPPs, hospitals in the project will have interconnected teleradiography services, ensuring efficiency and cost-effectiveness compared to the current public provision of medical imaging services. This review is based on secondary data collected from various computerized repositories, databases, or search engines encompassing articles, MOH documents, and reports in this regard. This review describes healthcare PPPs and how they will operate teleradiology in the KSA. We further highlight obstacles to the involvement of the private sector in the provision of public teleradiology services.