Announcement

Huma and Tamer bring digital ‘hospital at home’ platform to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

First published:
May 16, 2022
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Tamer, the Middle-East’s leading healthcare distribution company, has agreed a 5-year deal to bring Huma’s market leading technology platform to power ‘hospitals at home’ with remote patient monitoring to the 34 million people living in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The new health programme will begin with support for patients with diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

The Saudi healthcare transformation is one of the largest in the world and this partnership sees the UK health sector increase its support for its delivery. Indeed, this partnership is a live example of how UK companies are working with the Saudi healthcare system to deliver digital health care solutions which will save lives.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) and diabetes are the biggest cause of premature death in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. CVD is linked to 37% of deaths in the Kingdom, making it the leading cause of death1, whilst diabetes affects at least 13% of people there2, and another 5%2 may be undiagnosed. Patients will now be able to use Huma’s award-winning3 ‘hospital at home’ system to give clinicians real-world insight into their patients’ health.

The ‘hospital at home’ system comprises a patient app and a clinical portal. It is already used across England, Wales, Germany and the UAE to help people with CVD, COVID-19, musculoskeletal surgery and more. In diabetes, early work with a healthcare consortium in London, UK has found that patients lost 4.1kg in weight and had an average reduction in average blood glucose levels (HbA1c) of 17 mmol / mol in HbA1c4. The technology has almost doubled clinical capacity through virtual wards5 and helped clinicians spot and reprioritise nearly 10% of their cardiac surgery patients on waiting lists who were deteriorating6.

The technology is used to help people with CVD and diabetes in a number of ways. The app can capture patient-generated data through the phone’s camera and accelerometers, or by connecting to medical devices and providing clinically approved questionnaires. Clinicians are able to monitor groups of patients at once, and the system flags any potentially deteriorating patients so that the clinician can spot who may need their attention. In addition, the system can point patients to appropriate educational content and provide reminders about their treatment plan.

Dr Fayad Dandashi, CEO Tamer Healthcare, said: “Tamer is delighted to be able to offer this leading technology. We have seen the impact that Huma’s technology has had in other countries, and we want to ensure that everyone in the Kingdom has access to this world-leading service. We work with every hospital in the Kingdom and believe this can make a real difference to patients and clinicians. We will start by helping people manage chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes, but are also seeking to implement a true ‘hospital at home’ service across the Kingdom that can support other diseases and areas of medicine such as surgery, dialysis etc. Then by combining with academic partners and driving research, we hope to move into even more proactive and predictive care.”

Dan Vahdat, CEO and Founder of Huma, said: “Our technology today is changing millions of lives around the world, and we are extremely proud that people in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will soon be able to benefit from it. Working with Tamer, we look forward to helping everyone in the Kingdom to live longer, fuller lives.”

About Tamer

Tamer Group is a leading healthcare, beauty care, prestige products, fast-moving consumer goods, and third-party logistics company that caters to the Saudi and Middle Eastern communities' rising demands. Importing, distribution, promotion, marketing, and manufacturing are the Group's main businesses.

Tamer Group, based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, provides services to many of the world's leading companies through a variety of agreements, partnerships, and joint ventures. Because of its distinctive approach to business, service, and customer portfolio, the company has established a special position in the Saudi market.

References:

  1. World Health Organization, 2016: https://www.who.int/nmh/​countries/sau_en.pdf
  2. International Diabetes Federation’s Diabetes Atlas, 10th edition 2021: https://diabetesatlas.org/data/​en/country/174/sa.html
  3. Huma Therapeutics wins Prix Galien USA 2021 award for Best Digital Health Product and HSJ Value Award 2021.
  4. Data from 2021 pilot study. Full evaluation of the service is in preparation.
  5. NHSX report: https://www.nhsx.nhs.uk/covid-19-response/technology-nhs/huma-medopad-evaluation-remote-digital-care-platform/ The full report is available on request.
  6. Obika, BD et al. (2021) Implementation of a mHealth solution to remotely monitor patients on a cardiac surgical waiting list: service evaluation JAMIA Open 4 (3) doi.org/10.1093/jamiaopen/ooab053