Saudi Arabia’s healthcare transformation under Vision 2030 is changing who delivers care, how it is funded and how results are measured. Dr Khalid Al Shaibani, Chief Executive Officer of the Health Sector Transformation Program, traced the reforms from institutional responsibilities to the health of individuals.

Dr Al Shaibani delivered the assessment during From Reform to Results: What Systems Learn When They Transform, a panel held as part of the Global Health Exhibition Digital Forum, organised by Tahaluf, Inside Saudi’s strategic partner. Inside Saudi’s coverage of the discussion examines the results presented and the reforms behind them.

He began by describing a system in which the Ministry of Health provided more than 60% of care while also regulating and purchasing services.

Separating responsibilities and changing funding

“Before we go and integrate around the individual or the person, we need to separate the roles of everybody, each role in its own institution.”

That principle underpinned the creation of the Health Holding Company and a separate national health insurance purchasing body in 2022. The Ministry’s healthcare provision was organised into 20 health clusters, each serving approximately one to two million people and intended to become an accountable care organisation responsible for its population.

Al Shaibani described the transfer of those clusters from the Ministry to the holding company as “one of the largest privatizations in the history of the country”. At the time of the discussion, he said, more than 133,000 staff—including physicians, nurses, other healthcare workers and administrators—had moved from civil contracts with the Ministry to business contracts with the Health Holding Company. The transfer was expected to encompass 294,000 staff by the following January, with the cluster migration scheduled to conclude at the beginning of that month.

The change also reshapes how care is funded. Rather than receiving a funding allocation, clusters operate under contracts with specific deliverables for the populations they serve. This gives them greater freedom to manage services, alongside responsibility for outcomes. “And they are accountable for the results.”

Funding previously allocated through the Ministry to hospitals now goes to the purchasing body, CNHI, which contracts with the clusters. “Eventually, we’re hoping to move to national health insurance.”

Delivering the Model of Care

Al Shaibani placed the Model of Care at the heart of the reforms. “We always say that model of care is at the centerpiece of our transformation.” Developed from 2018, the Saudi Model of Care comprises six systems of care that clusters must implement. He reported more than 15 million beneficiaries, with chronic care pathway compliance reaching 94%.

He highlighted access to primary care as a key measure of progress across Saudi Arabia’s vast geography. In 2019, approximately 80% of the population had primary care within reach. “Today, the ratio is close to 100,” he said. Satisfaction had also risen from around 72% to 87%, an improvement he associated with greater trust in primary care.

Digital services support continuity across that system. Al Shaibani described unified digital health records and more than 31 million beneficiaries captured in the digital ecosystem.

“Over a billion transactions have taken place over the last four or five years. More than a quarter of a billion electronic prescriptions have taken place.”

He also described virtual specialist care connecting almost 300 hospitals and serving more than 365,000 people, alongside remotely supported robotic surgery. “Of course, the next step is to move towards analytics and AI.”

Al Shaibani also highlighted the Public Investment Fund’s investment in biotechnology and digital services, citing biotech company Lifera and IT business solutions provider Lean. He described both as leaders in their respective fields.

Measuring quality and population outcomes

Returning to patient safety, Al Shaibani contrasted the earlier baseline of 48.9% of hospitals meeting basic standards with the reported improvement: “Today, that number stands at 80%, with over 2,500 accredited healthcare providers.” Inpatient satisfaction had increased from 82% to 88%, while Saudi board programmes had 35,000 trainees.

A national quality indicator comprising 39 sub-KPIs tracks performance across public, private and non-profit providers, with quarterly reporting against annual targets.

The results also extended beyond hospitals. Road mortality had “dropped from 28 deaths for every 100,000 back in 2016 to 12 deaths per 100,000 today”, he said, illustrating coordination across government under Vision 2030.

Life expectancy provided his clearest example of progress ahead of schedule. “The readings for 2025 came out a couple of months ago, and we actually have surpassed that target with over 80 years, so we’ve surpassed the target for 2030.” He linked that result to prevention, earlier detection, reduced mortality from chronic diseases and improved road safety.

Looking ahead, he described the objective of one health record, one route into care and consistent service standards wherever people live. Referral coordination, public health, patient safety and research institutions form part of the supporting ecosystem.

His measure of success remained value: “our North Star is really to bring the most value out of our care.” The purpose of the institutional changes, he concluded, was to ensure that “the focus of our attention really is the individual.”

Healthcare Transformation in Figures

Achievements reported by Dr. Khalid Al Shaibani during his presentation