1.
Perspective Ramez Shehadi
Ali Hashemi
Walid Tohme
Jad Bitar
Making Health
Management Services
Work in the GCC
The growing prevalence of chronic diseases in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)1
nations generates higher healthcare costs, lowers productivity, and clogs
healthcare service channels. Adopting health management services (HMS) can
address the epidemic by helping chronically ill patients understand their disease,
amend their behavior, adhere to treatment regimens, and navigate the healthcare
system. But before GCC governments and healthcare organizations can put HMS
programs into practice, they will need to start answering strategic questions
about the objectives of these programs and how they will work in practice.

2.
THE CASE FOR services in their overall healthcare
strategies. These services work
healthy behavior. HMS also
strengthens relationships between
HMS primarily in two ways: They help hospitals, physicians, and patients by
mitigate the spread of chronic creating a continuous view of patient
diseases by establishing wellness care that competitors without such
programs and other preventive programs cannot match.
strategies, and once a chronic disease
has been diagnosed, they reduce the By supporting individuals in
Across the GCC, unhealthy lifestyles costs of treatment through ongoing maintaining their health and helping
and aging populations are leading to a monitoring and frequent interaction chronic patients with their conditions,
higher prevalence of chronic disease, with the patient. HMS programs have a direct impact
which drive up healthcare costs and on healthcare costs. Although
keep economies from performing at Health management services (HMS) such savings are often difficult to
their true potential. Chronic diseases programs bundle a prescribed set of quantify, numerous studies have
strain healthcare providers and the healthcare services into condition- demonstrated the benefits of HMS
overall healthcare system by leading specific programs that are based to individuals’ health, as well as to
to frequent and costly trips to the on scientific evidence and data overall healthcare costs. For instance,
emergency room and longer average analysis. The healthcare services a study published in Health Affairs in
stays. Long and resource-intensive address patients’ needs in terms of 2004 showed an 8.1 percent drop in
treatment periods make patients risk identification, awareness and the hospitalization costs of diabetes
with chronic disease heavy users of education, adherence to treatment patients after they were enrolled in an
healthcare services, leading them to regimen, monitoring of health HMS program to help manage their
consume a disproportionate amount indicators, and care coordination. treatment.2 Such success stories have
of the total available services. The HMS program assists individual led more health insurance companies
patients in improving their health and payors to adopt these services
To counter these trends, GCC by creating a support system that as a way of controlling their soaring
governments, healthcare helps them manage their condition, healthcare costs.
organizations, and private insurers providing critical guidance and
can deploy health management employing incentives to encourage
1 Booz & Company

3.
Making HMS health literacy and awareness of
health issues in GCC countries,
• Which segments of the population
will be targeted? How will the
Work patients in this region are more program be designed to address
reliant on physicians than patients the cultural characteristics of the
in other markets, making physician population?
involvement all the more critical.
• What incentives will be required
Personalization: Tailoring to ensure significant program
There are three keys to success in communications and incentives to adoption among targeted
deploying HMS programs, all of the individual’s tastes and preferences segments?
which are relevant to GCC markets: is a new and evolving trend credited
with increasing patient compliance • How will health management
Incentives: Well-designed HMS with HMS programs. Incentives and services be funded? How will the
programs provide consumers with other aspects of the plan’s design are costs (and risks) be distributed
a variety of incentives to ensure customized to adjust to the individual among the various stakeholders?
participation, such as reduced participant’s ability to change. HMS
premiums, cash incentives, and providers are building large databases • Through which entity will the
redeemable reward points akin of consumer information to document programs be offered? Will it be a
to the credits offered by various the success of interventions, public–private partnership between
reward programs. HMS programs incentives, and communications, a GCC government and an
are also using negative incentives and to leverage these large data international disease management/
such as increased premiums or warehouses to personalize their wellness company, or will it be an
co-pays for patients who don’t enroll. interactions with other patients. entirely private undertaking?
Increasingly, programs are adopting
a combination of both—negative Healthcare insurers’ overall HMS Chronic disease management is
incentives to ensure enrollment and strategy will determine the ways an issue that GCC nations can ill
positive incentives to effect behavioral in which these building blocks are afford to ignore. Well-crafted HMS
change. used. They will need to employ programs are a valuable tool that
analysis, judgment, detailed design, can help GCC nations stem the
Physician Involvement: Coordinating and piloting of alternative concepts, rising tide of chronic diseases by
program interventions and other as well as allocation of significant helping to identify unhealthy and
elements with the patient’s physician resources for implementation. To risky behaviors, raise awareness of
is another critical facilitator of help jump-start the process and lay underlying lifestyle factors, improve
program efficacy. In a case in which a sound foundation for successful adherence to treatment regimens, and
drug adherence is identified as a implementation, GCC governments strengthen the bonds between patients
problem, for instance, involving and healthcare organizations must and physicians. However, GCC
the physician doesn’t just entail assess their current overall healthcare governments must start answering
the communication of critical strategy to address a number of these strategic questions today in
information; it also creates an strategic questions: order to lay a strong foundation for
opportunity for the physician health management services in the
to intervene and reinforce the • What are the target objectives for future.
importance of sticking to the drug the HMS program?
regimen. Given the low level of
1
The GCC includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
2
Victor G. Villagra and Tamim Ahmed, “Effectiveness of a Disease Management Program for Patients with Diabetes,” Health Affairs, vol. 23, no. 4, 2004, 255–266.
Booz & Company 2

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Contact Information
Beirut Dubai
Ramez Shehadi Ali Hashemi
Partner Principal
+961-1-985-655 +971-4-390-0260
ramez.shehadi@booz.com ali.hashemi@booz.com
Walid Tohme
Principal
+961-1-985-655
walid.tohme@booz.com
Jad Bitar
Senior Associate
+961-1-985-655
jad.bitar@booz.com
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