Dubai Science Park, a science and healthcare-focused business community, hosted the fifth edition of its Advance Health event, a networking platform that connects key healthcare stakeholders in the UAE. The forum, which convenes leading experts to discuss important and trending topics in the industry, focused on the merits and challenges of value-based healthcare, a healthcare delivery model in which providers, including hospitals and physicians, are paid based on patient health outcomes.

The speakers included Dr Mohammad Naser Fargaly, Consultant at Dubai Health Authority, Kasem Akhras, Director of Government Affairs and Market Access at AstraZeneca, Kandarp Thakkar, Chief Pharmacist at King’s College Hospital Dubai, Bhawani Bhatnagar, Intelligence Department at Daman Insurance, and Albert Berry, Vice President of Connected Health at Arbour Group.

The event was organised in partnership with Synapse Medical Services, a healthcare administration company, and Connect Communications, a strategic healthcare communications agency.

Speaking about the session’s focus area, Marwan Abdulaziz Janahi, Managing Director of Dubai Science Park and Chairing Member of the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Equipment Taskforce of the Dubai Industrial Strategy 2030, said: “Healthcare providers around the world are faced with the challenge of providing the best quality of care to their patients while still being able to break even amid rising costs. This where value-based healthcare stems from as it shapes health outcomes against the price of delivering services.”

“This new approach seeks to create a true ecosystem that ties together a wide array of healthcare organisations and settings. Patients are able to benefit from a holistic and well-rounded treatment, while providers share data and measure outcomes to improve profit margins. Overall, it is a robust model that has significant benefits for everyone. We are pleased the latest edition of Advance Health brought to light the various nuances associated with value-based healthcare.”

Some of the main benefits of value-based healthcare discussed during the event include the fact that society at large will become heathier whilst reducing their overall spending on healthcare. There will also be a stronger focus on the well-being of patients due to the prevention of chronic diseases and how data plays an important role in the implementation of this new model as it is accessible across organisations and improves operations and care management.

Kasam Akhras, Head of Government Affairs and Market Access, AstraZeneca is confident about the future of this healthcare delivery model: “Value-based health care is a paradigm shift in how healthcare budgets should be managed to ensure sustainability. This event is an excellent forum to bring key stakeholders in the healthcare ecosystem to discuss how to bring value-based healthcare to reality in the GCC Region.”

Marcus Corander, Managing Director, Connect Communications, said: “We are excited to collaborate on this Advance Health session for 2019. Apart from value-based healthcare and whether it can be implemented in this region, the session focused on the challenges faced and why healthcare systems are looking to move from fee-for-service to value-based outcomes. It was interesting to hear from key industry stakeholders, as well as providers, payers and industry experts.”

The healthcare landscape continues to shift and adapting to a value-based model will require time. Initially, value-based healthcare might be met with hesitation, however, it has the potential to progress into an ideal method for decreasing healthcare costs whilst providing quality care. Innovative technology will serve as an enabler in this transformation as it will allow for community outreach, enforce quality and ensure a cost-benefit advantage.

Dubai Science Park regularly convenes leading industry events dedicated to the science, healthcare, energy and environment sectors. Previous Advance Health forum covered important subjects such as telemedicine and disease prevention. The next event is set to take place on 18^th April 2019.