Pursuant to Article (33) of the Private Health Institutions Law, which is issued upon the Royal Decree No (M/40) on 3/11/1423H, the Acting Minister of Health, Eng. Adel bin Mohamed Faqih, has approved today (Saturday) 7th of Safar 1436H, corresponding to 29th of November 2014, some amendments to the Bylaw of the Private Health Institutions Law.
The new amendments added some provisions to Article (2) of the aforementioned Law, issued by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques as per the Royal Decree No (M/36), dated 11/6/1434H allowing citizens to own private health institutions after this option was limited only to physicians and health professionals.
Likewise, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques has approved amending Article (7) of the aforementioned law, which obliges the private health institutions to obtain the approval of the Ministry of Health (MOH) with regard to the price lists of the offered health services. In addition, these prices must be publicized and they cannot be changed without obtaining the consent of the Ministry of Health, which is tasked with studying the reasons behind such a change.
The new executive regulations issued by His Excellency the Acting Minister of Health included also a comprehensive review of all items of the previous bylaw, in addition to an update for them in line with the accelerated developments in the field of providing healthcare; that’s to be added to consolidating whatever leads to facilitate and promote means of investment in the health sector according to the statutory rules.
The amended bylaw also stressed that the performance of the private health sector should be in harmony with the updated technical and regulatory standards in order to ensure providing health services according to the highest standards adopted locally and globally in line with the Ministry's strategy and objectives and in implementation of the directives of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, May Allah bless him, to that effect.
Furthermore, the new regulations tackled in a detailed and advanced manner many medical concepts, including adding some new specialties and setting controls for them such as the radiologic communication medicine and home medical care; that is be added to shedding light on the possibility of adding new specialties such as diagnosis using ultrasound (for non-radiologists).
Moreover, the regulations expounded in details the operational plan of the new hospitals; thus helping the hospitals sector to avoid risks and overcome procedural restrictions. In addition, the new bylaw enabled the experienced health professionals to easily move among health institutions in such a manner that benefits the patient.
All the more, the regulations have also given the hospitals the green light to operate making use of a specialized third party with experience and a license in the required field, in a bid to enrich health services with well-placed cadres. In addition, the prominent international health institutions have been authorized to invest in the Saudi health sector in accordance with the applicable regulations and conditions with an aim of benefitting from their experiences and therapeutic techniques, increasing the level of competition and adding more values to the health sector.
It is worth mentioning that the Private Health Institutions Law and its Bylaw touch on ways of monitoring and controlling the establishment of private hospitals, medical complexes, polyclinics, laboratories, x-ray centers, one-day surgery centers, supportive medical services’ centers, prosthodontic centers, nutrition centers, dialysis centers and others. The MOH issues licenses for these institutions and follows up and inspects their performance based on technical and statutory regulations set by the ministry.
Over and above, the Ministry held several meetings with the concerned parties at the Council of Saudi Chambers and other relevant authorities to take their views regarding this bylaw before finally approving it.
To view the Bylaw of the Private Health Institutions Law,
click here (available only in Arabic)