Opportunities in the Extended Healthcare Sector in MENA

There are significant opportunities for real estate investors and developers in the extended care sector, but the realization of these opportunities requires greater collaboration and integration of services between the various industry stakeholders, including healthcare providers, payors (insurance providers) and most importantly, the regulators.

Defining extended care

Extended care is not only defined by the number of clinics or hospital beds. it also requires attention to be given to areas such as outpatient rehabilitation, home care and telemedicine.

The medical needs of patients vary during their lifecycle, starting with preventive care, medical interventions on a need basis as well as various other services like rehabilitation, long term care, elder care and end of life care.

While traditionally, the majority of health care has been provided in hospitals, medical centers or clinics, other formats focusing on the targeted treatment of patients to serve their needs as per their medical lifecycle have emerged in recent times. These new formats have focused on the continuum of patient care to ensure overall health and wellbeing, while simultaneously allowing for better use of acute care within the traditional healthcare setups.

Extended care forms an important component of the overall patient care continuum. Some elements of the extended care service offer require physical premises (e.g. long term care facilities and rehabilitation centres), while others are less spatial in nature and do not necessarily require the provision of additional real estate (e.g. home care and telemedicine).

There are currently relatively few specialist facilities proving extended care in most cities across MENA, with these services being delivered from within traditional hospitals, medical centres and clinics. Over time, a range of more specialist facilities are likely to emerge including rehabilitation centres and long-term care facilities. These facilities will providing post-acute rehabilitation and extended care to patients who have been hospitalized for acute situations such as major surgery and may require prolonged monitoring and supervision. Other specialist extended care facilities may include slow stream rehabilitation (a model of service delivery provided to individuals whose recovery is slow or prolonged) Treatments such as speech therapy, occupational therapy and physiotherapy, are commonly utilized in this process. 

Long term care services provide various levels of care for patients starting from primary nursing care for patients who require maintenance medications, nutritional support, and infrequent physician intervention. This may also extend to patients who require acute care, mechanical ventilation support, and intensive medical care requiring continuous monitoring. 

Implications for different stakeholders

Healthcare providers. Provision of extended care services in the region will allow for hospitals to free up acute care bed capacity and at the same time retain complex cases locally, with the promise of continuity of care post-hospital discharge.

Payers (insurance providers) . The costs of treating patients in extended care facilities should be lower than treating them in traditional hospitals and clinics. The expansion of this sector will therefore lessen the burden on insurance companies and healthcare providers. Moreover, the provision of adequate extended care facilities should result in a reduction in the overall disease burden across any given population, which will in turn reduce insurance costs over the longer term.

Patients. Access to a comprehensive care continuum including extended care services supports patients in their transition through their comprehensive treatment, in a more suitable setting surrounded by the supportive network of family and friends.