Building on a Hundred Years Of Good Health
Fayad Aldandashi, CEO of Saudi Arabia’s Tamer Healthcare, talks trends, sustainability, and digital technology as the healthcare sector continues its journey of transformation.
You have been involved in healthcare for almost two decades. How has the sector changed during that time?
Global healthcare systems are rapidly evolving. Locally in Saudi Arabia, the primary focus in the 2000 era was on fostering infrastructures such as tertiary and quaternary care centers, and specialty secondary hospitals. Since then, system metrics have improved. The number of beds per capita has reached 2.2 per 1,000, and more focus has been given to eradicating communicable diseases and controlling the epidemic of non-communicable diseases. More broadly, healthcare systems globally have witnessed major scientific breakthroughs in diagnostics and new modalities of treatment. Today, we are witnessing the birth of revolutionary advancements relating to human genome and DNA sequencing, cellular therapy, and biopharma and biological treatments.
Saudi Arabia is pursuing numerous local healthcare transformation initiatives. What role is Tamer Healthcare playing in this journey of transformation?
Tamer Healthcare is perhaps the oldest healthcare company in Saudi Arabia. We proudly claim that the founder of the company was the first to introduce medicine in the Arabian Peninsula in early 1922, and we continue to sense our obligation towards the country and the society. Therefore, we strive to bridge healthcare gaps that exist between developed nations and the region.
As an integral and pivotal provider of essential goods, products, and services, Tamer Healthcare is revitalizing its business model to cope with an utterly revamped healthcare system.
Furthermore, rapidly advancing digital technologies, private sector participation, and the ample outsourcing programs among various governmental bodies, all hold great potential for the future development the healthcare sector.
Tamer Healthcare is an industry leader in Saudi Arabia where digitalization is concerned. Why is digitalization so important and what are the key challenges to digital adoption?
The digital space is enormously promising; it solves many system level challenges like the scarcity of resources, talent, and professionals, as well as the rising healthcare cost, and the access limitations in many remote areas. Digital solutions will democratize access to healthcare, improve quality, and reduce healthcare costs. The regulatory framework remains a challenge and technology is moving at a high pace. However, COVID has accelerated the legislator’s response, and digital adoption is rising among consumers.
What have been your biggest digitalization achievements to date, and what digital initiatives can we expect from Tamer Healthcare moving forward?
There have been many achievements, but most importantly, digitalization has enabled us to identify strong market opportunities and develop a deep understanding of the global and local landscapes. The group made a bold move in acquiring the largest mother, child, and baby e-commerce vertical player in the region. Tamer will penetrate the segment quite extensively and will ensure our market position among the top players in the space.
How seriously does Tamer Healthcare take the issue of sustainability?
Sustainability is not a destination but a journey. We must always look at building a sustainable business, living sustainable lives, and having a sustainable outlook. In other words, what we want to do for the future is something that should make a positive, long-term impact. That is sustainability. At Tamer Healthcare, we take the issue of sustainability seriously and we aim to make a positive impact on society at large. That is why we are incorporating the ESG goals and their metrics into the Tamer Group purpose.
How do you ensure that your business operates in a socially and environmentally conscious way?
We have adopted practices that help to make us a socially and environmentally conscious
business, and we improve those practices continuously. Our social consciousness revolves around our employees, our stakeholders, and our communities. We consider employee wellbeing, including health and safety, as embedded principles in our standard business practices. In this regard, we formally track and monitor several metrics including diversity and inclusion, with specific emphasis on Saudization and gender inclusion.
We have taken a proactive approach to environmental considerations in our business as well, and have already achieved LEED certification on some of our main operating facilities. Overall, we consider ESG as a core pillar of our future business strategy and will continue to implement leading practices on an informed and objective basis.
What can the healthcare sector do to become more sustainable?
The healthcare sector has significant opportunities to adopt more sustainable business practices whilst maintaining a paramount focus on the safety of patients and consumers. I believe that safety and sustainability can be considered complementary, rather than competitive. In this regard, there are several untapped opportunities for innovation in using sustainable yet safe packaging for pharmaceuticals, improving end of life considerations for medical equipment, and embracing the concept of resource circularity on an overall basis. I also believe that this is an opportunity for the regulators to take a leading role in embracing and pushing the industry towards “sustainable safety” across the healthcare value chain.
Looking to the future, what is your vision for Tamer Healthcare?
Tamer Group will be celebrating its 100-year anniversary next year. The healthcare industry is undergoing a major transformation as a provision because of disruption and technology. We are currently embracing this transformation with the aim of surviving the next 100 years. We plan to expand our activities from B2B business and increase our digital capabilities, we intend to add more services and products to our B2C business, and finally, we hope to have a long partnership with the Saudi public bodies to pursue the achievement of Vision 2030.
“Tamer Healthcare is revitalizing its business model to cope with an utterly revamped healthcare system.”