Toward excellence in health care: a call for the Saudi Center for Health Excellence.

Evidence-based guidance was shown to improve the process of care and clinical outcomes in several studies. Evidence-based recommendation was shown to result in a significant reduction in health care cost.[1-3] The development and local adaptation of high quality Evidence-Based Clinical Practice Guidelines (EB-CPG), cost-effectiveness analysis, decision analysis s, and public health guidance is a complicated process that is time consuming and needs significant expertise and resources. Currently hospitals and health societies are developing their own program, which results in a significant duplication of efforts. Implementation and monitoring of such guidelines and recommendations is a key task that needs significant coordination and significant resources. Dissemination and monitoring of guidelines and recommendations is a key process for the implementation that is still missing in Saudi Arabia. Several developed countries have established centers for this purpose, for example, The Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH) and The UK National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE). Several developed countries are working to establish such centers, for example, Jordan and Malaysia. Such a center will have significant added values to the health care system in Saudi Arabia.

MISSION STATEMENT

To provide, implement, and monitor high quality evidence-based recommendations to support, and guide clinical practice in Saudi Arabia.

VISION STATEMENT

Saudi Center for Health Excellence (SCHE) will be the leading regional source of high quality evidence-based recommendations to guide practice, and improve the quality and safety of health and healthcare services.

VALUES

Collaboration: Work as a team with different providers of health care services within Saudi Arabia.

Innovation: Actively seek, develop, and implement creative ideas to help achieve the mission and vision of SHCE.

Integrity: Exercise transparency and independence

Excellence: Continually strive toward the best quality assessment.

SCHE SCOPE OF GUIDANCE

Technology appraisals: Guidance on the use of new and existing medicines and devices.

Clinical guidelines: Evidence-based guidance on the management of specific conditions.

Diagnostic procedures: Guidance on procedures used for diagnosis.

Public health guidance: Guidance on public health issues.

STRATEGIC GOALS

Development and adaptation of high-quality evidence-based clinical practice guidelines

Comprehensive evidence-based rigorous assessment and analysis of the literature.

Incorporating high quality independent cost-effective analysis.

Transparent process and methods for the development of guidance recommendations.

A consultation process to enable external stakeholders to comment and inform on the development of guidance.

A process of regular review and updating will ensure that the guidance recommendations are of continuing value.

Development of tools for the dissemination and implementation of SCHE guidance

Motivate and encourage change in practice.

Provide practical support and implementation tools.

Disseminate guidance in formats that are appropriate for the target audiences.

Influence and inform those mechanisms that encourage change in practice and uptake of new innovations, such as, incentives and payment systems, regulatory mechanisms, and educational initiatives.

Development of tools to monitor the implementation of SCHE

To develop practical implementation tools.

To identify specific auditing tools for each guidance.

To utilize information systems to capture important auditing indicators.

To share data and benchmark healthcare facilities using transparent methodology.

To conduct, inform, and direct clinical research in Saudi Arabia

To coordinate the conduction of research relevant to the tasks of SCHE, for example, systematic reviews, cost-effective analysis, and decision analysis.

To coordinate with local research centers and funding agencies.

To encourage the evaluation of the impact of SCHE guidance using patient-oriented outcome measures.

To coordinate the conduction of research relevant to the tasks of SCHE, for example, systematic reviews, cost-effective analysis, and decision analysis.

CONCLUSIONS

There is an urgent need to establish The Saudi Center for Health Excellence as a national center devoted to the development, monitoring, and implementation of EB-Guidance in Saudi Arabia. Such a center is expected to have a significant positive impact in improving the quality and safety of care in Saudi Arabia.