Health Care and Medical Services

Competitive Advantages
Key Opportunities

According to the Arab World Competitiveness Report 2005, Jordan is the top ranking Arab country in terms of healthcare scoring 6.4 in terms of healthcare and primary education in the Arab world in 2007. The Jordanian government spends around 6.1% of its GDP on healthcare with a commitment to reform regulations and provision requirements and foster further privatization in the industry, paving the way for additional modernization and development in the industry.

Growing joint venture partnerships between the public and private sectors are a major stimulant to new investment in healthcare services and infrastructure.

Competitive Advantages

Growing demand for medical

Fueled by the young and growing population of Jordan. Jordan’s population is growing at a rate of 3% annually due to the high fertility rate of 3.7, and the declining infant mortality rate of 22 per 1000. Life expectancy is higher in Jordan than in most developing countries, averaging 71.3 years due to the rising standards of medical services coupled with higher standards of living.

Additionally two important demand generators in the Jordanian medical industry are incoming immigrants seeking Jordan's comparatively higher standard of living and medical tourism. The national economy is receiving massive injections in developmental capacity and revenue due to the medical tourism sector. The said growth in the sector is arguably due to the correct publicly held perception of Jordan as a supplier of high quality healthcare services in the current market at competitive or below market prices.

In essence this implies that Jordan is increasingly becoming a more popular destination for the provision of medical services outsourcing. A position that as prices for medical care continue to rise meteorically in the west implies our cost effectiveness in similar quality service provision strengthens the national position furthermore (Please rewrite!). Jordan’s entry into the international medical tourism market has been relevantly recent with several medium to large hospitals breaking ground and starting formal programs with more to follow.

Cost Advantage

Hospitals in Jordan are capable of claiming to conduct complicated and expensive surgeries at a low cost compared to more developed countries with similar success rates and customer satisfaction ratings. The comparative price list is as follows:

Specialized Doctors

Jordanian specialists performed over 120,000 major surgeries and over 250,000 other surgical procedures including cardio-thoracic, neurological and cancer surgeries, with success rates at par with international standards, non- rejection rates in bone marrow transplants is 80%, as for renal transplants they are 95%.

Strong connection to regional markets and governments.

Strong connection to regional markets and governments

Government committed to reform and development:
The Jordanian government commitment to reform of the health sector aims to improve healthcare services and assurance of facility use, health delivery systems, and health information systems. Furthermore, the Government of Jordan completed the initial design and program of the E-Health Portal initiative, launched with an aim to improve health service delivery to all Jordanians. Ultimately, the program will evolve as a public-private partnership with full fledged national e-health portal in order to enable web access to Electronic Patient Records (EPR) via a central document indices to data kept in the individual hospitals and general practioners offices. Additionally, the e-portal should provide a channel for electronic communication between citizens and healthcare professionals, as well as allowing patients, their families, and healthcare professionals access up-to-date information.

Supportive structures: Private Hospitals Association

GDP contribution (%): The healthcare sector revenues are estimated at $2b per year and growing at some 6-7% per year. Private hospitals and clinic revenues have more than tripled over the last five years going from $300m in 2000 to $1b in 2005. Given large immigrant demand, forecasts for the next five years suggest similar growth rates will continue at the current rate.

Cumulative Employment: 18,880 (2006)

Key Opportunities

• Healthcare delivery service for general practitioners (ICU, Cath Labs, Heart Centers, Radiology, Operating Theatres, Oncology, Burns, Laboratories, Dialysis), patient issues (recovery, prevention, treatment and diagnostics), outpatients and aged care. 
• Hospital Electronic Patient Records (ERP) 
• R&D 
• Medical Management Consulting 
• Medical logistics such as manufacturers, distributors, and ambulatory care 
• Psychiatry with special emphasis on children’s psychological health. 
• Family planning programs 
• Education and management of HIV and STD’s 
• Sexual and reproductive health awareness programs 
• Nutrition education and outreach 
• Geriatric services 
• Immunology 
• Transplant medicine 
• Sharing of records and data among health delivery organizations. 
• Quality and supervision to reduce malpractice incidence 
• Health maintenance organizations (HMO’s) 
• Handicap access and services 
• Bio-medical engineering - artificial body parts 
• Alcohol and substance addiction center – to combat a growing regional problem 
• Updated medical education programming – revising curricula to reflect current needs 
• Nursing capabilities center 
• Herbal-based treatment options – through established regulatory framework and supervision 
• Stem cell research support 
• Psychiatry, reproductive services and cancer treatments 
• Corporate Health Retreat 
• Geriatric Care Facilities 
• Trauma Center 
• Medical Waste Management (Incinerators and other equipment and service packages)