Barriers to Implementing E-health Insurance in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

E-health insurance is a fairly new concept in some parts of the world, while some countries have made great progresses in this area, others fall behind owing to a variety of factors. Countries are in a different technological, economic, and professional state, hence they are bound to differ in the implementation of e-health insurance. This study recognizes that many people around the world are yet to acquire an insurance cover despite the continuing adoption of technologies that make the process easier, faster, and convenient. Therefore, e-health insurance is investigated from the perspective of the Saudi Arabian market. The key objectives included assessing the progress that Saudi Arabia has made in e-health; investigating the people’s willingness to embrace e-health insurance, and determining the factors delaying proper implementation of e-health in the country. A qualitative methodology was utilized as it gives access to people’s opinions, attitudes, or perceptions towards different issues of interest. A semi-structured interview was used to collect data from three groups of people that are involved in the implementation of e-health insurance; 10 public representatives, 10 healthcare practitioners, and 10 government representatives selected through purposive sampling. The study results indicated that e-health insurance was still at its developing stages in Saudi Arabia. A large part of the population is yet to embrace e-health insurance for reasons such as the lack of awareness. Many people still do not understand the insurance concept and the benefits associated with health insurance. Others barriers to the implementation of e-health insurance in Saudi Arabia include technological barriers, negative attitude, misconceptions about insurance, and religious beliefs. Awareness programs are recommended to solve some of the issues that make it hard for Saudi Arabians to embrace e-health insurance. The country also needs effective strategies to make e-health insurance more accessible to the masses.

Keywords: Technology adoption; E-health Insurance in KSA; e-health insurance system ; implementing e-health insurance; Developing Countries; e-health marketing