Riyadh Valley Company (RVC), a Saudi government-owned investment firm, said it has tied up with health care technology supplier Cerner and leading business group Zamil to set up a healthcare technology venture in the kingdom.

RVC which aims to be the leader in knowledge-based investment and technology transfer in Saudi, said the  collaboration will offer health information systems and services (HIS) to its affiliated hospitals, other Ministry of Higher Education hospitals and private hospitals in Saudi Arabia.

The new venture Riyadh Valley HIS' offering will run on the Cerner Millennium software architecture, the health care industry’s most comprehensive, unified, contemporary information architecture.

A unit of King Saud University, the RVC said the hospitals in the Kingdom adopting this system will recognize key benefits such as improved access to patient information, enhanced quality of patient care, enhanced operational efficiency.

'The health care sector continues to be a key component in the Kingdom’s shift to a knowledge-based economy from an oil-based one,' observed Dr Abdullah Al Othman, president of King Saud University and chairman of the board of RVC.

'We see enhancing our country’s health care services as a key component of this change and are proud to work with Cerner and Zamil to play an emerging role in how that care is delivered to the Saudi community,” he noted.

'Through this public-private sector partnership, our university company has the opportunity to positively impact the quality of life for all Saudis,' he added.

Greg White, vice president and managing director, Cerner Middle East and Africa, said the joint venture aligns Cerner with two well-established organizations that have proven track records of successful operations in Saudi Arabia.

“The trio will work to provide a new delivery model for health care technology in this country,” he stated.

Dr Abdulrahman Al Zamil, chairman of Zamil Group, said, “We share with RVC and Cerner a commitment to contributing to the well-being of our communities and see this project as critical to the long-term success of health care in our country.”

“This partnership to provide HIS is the first of its kind in Saudi and offers hospitals the opportunity to transform their HIS cost centers into profit centers,' he added.-TradeArabia News Service