Linde Healthcare: Healthcare closer to home
Linde Healthcare:
Healthcare closer to home
With successful hospital care and homecare solutions the world over, The Linde Group looks to cement its footing in the UAE and Saudi Arabia as a provider of choice
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he global healthcare industry is facing a major challenge, the challenge of a growing and aging population. As the population grows older, the demand for healthcare grows with it as there is a significant increase in chronic diseases. Ultimately, this will bring an increase in the cost of healthcare provision which, in turn, could very well transform the way healthcare providers prioritise their care solutions.
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A female patient with nasal cannula is transported by a nurse in a hospital bed
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The industry will begin to see strong management of these costs on the side of the payer, which in the UAE and Saudi Arabia is funded by the government. Healthcare is subsidised in the UAE, so the challenge of managing an increase of patients and diseases all within a lower cost bracket is even more imminent, as it will be the first time something like this will hit the GCC. Linde Healthcare Middle East, part of the larger global Linde Group, is a provider of pharmaceutical and medical gas products, services and patient-care programmes. The company has successful operations across Europe and the Americas and Asia-Pacific.
A medical assistant in a Linde Group hospital
Patients are a virtue As a healthcare provider, the company’s vision is to establish a reputation that is considerably different to the traditional business perspective of other competitors. This vision is not fuelled by searching the quickest dollar, it’s about human beings. Everything Linde Group does is centered around support, prolonging life and easing pain. To that regard, Linde Healthcare is embarking on a mission to become a relevant and powerful market player, one that is recognised for the values it represents, its trust worthiness and its reliability. Linde Healthcare was established in the UAE only recently in 2013, and so the company is still
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growing in a very mature market. The healthcare provision market in both the UAE and Saudi Arabia is overpopulated, with a number of large scale companies already taking up the majority of the market share. But Linde Healthcare, in such a short space of time, has successfully managed to obtain and capture a big share of the market in Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Naturally, this is a significant turning point in the company’s history. Linde Group was able to establish a business in a market place that is very competitive and had been captured by a number of healthcare players. Success can be measured by the fact that Linde Group was able to acquire customers that purchase hospital gases, medical gases or related services. Through the process of establishing that market presence, Linde Healthcare has managed to sign and extend existing supply contracts with hospitals, other clinical providers and the Ministry of Health. The Ministry of Health contract, which is an extension of an already existing three-year
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contract, will see Linde Healthcare as the leading supplier of medical gases for a further three years. These relationships show the confidence that customers have in what Linde stands for. It is a company with values that are associated to its relationships, and a long-term commitment to the market, to hospitals, and most importantly to patients. Putting the people first As Linde Healthcare entered a market already populated by competitors, providing a point of difference in the market and continuing to be the provider of choice is crucial. In healthcare, the one big difference is the people. In a world driven by commodity products, the important part is the people involved, the right people, with the right knowhow and the right attitude. Linde Group recognises that in the grand scheme of healthcare, medical gases are very much a “c-level” product, but it is still a product that clinical customers and eventually patients need.
A baby being taken care of inside an incubator
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Medical gas is a commodity, but where Linde Group is being recognised is as a key supplier Customers, and ultimately the patients, are working with and choosing to do repeat business with The Linde Group and the company can rest assured it is doing a lot of things right on that front. Taking healthcare home As healthcare budgets are being squeezed, a direct consequence of the growing demands of an aging population, a trend has begun to emerge. Payers are looking for more cost optimal solutions, where
healthcare can be provided in a more cost-effective manner, not necessarily a cheaper solution, but one that is more suited to their needs. This will ultimately result is less acute care, less chronic care in hospitals, and in their place more preventative care. All types of care, be it elderly care, long term care, rehabilitation, things that don’t necessarily need to be treated in a hospital – will be treated at home. As the healthcare budget is squeezed further, this will be the reality sooner rather than later. This is something that Linde Andreas Wagner, Managing Director
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Healthcare Middle East is more than prepared for, with the launching of its homecare solutions in Saudi Arabia and the UAE later this year. Linde Healthcare already successfully provides homecare services and solutions across Europe and the Americas, but this will be a first for the UAE and Saudi Arabia regions. Due to its notable successes across the world, Linde Group already has the knowhow and the practices on how to enter the homecare market. The company is ready for that reality [chronic services moving from hospitals] and it’s the ideal time to enter that market. The company has already signed an agreement with a renowned Abu Dhabi based company while negotiations are underway to launch homecare solutions in Saudi Arabia next year. As the company looks to expand and grow in the changing healthcare space, it is not about finding the business solution and profitability in order to determine success - it is about the people.
Hafees Rahaman, SHEQ Manager AE
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