Current Status

On Track — Saudi Arabia’s Healthcare Access and Quality (HAQ) Index has been improving, reflecting investments in clinical standards, hospital accreditation, and patient safety systems. The Kingdom is advancing toward parity with upper-income OECD benchmarks.

Key Metrics

Trend Analysis

Saudi Arabia’s healthcare quality trajectory has shown consistent improvement across multiple quality dimensions. The HAQ Index — a composite measure developed by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) that tracks amenable mortality across 32 causes of death — rose from 74 in 2016 to an estimated 80 by 2024. This six-point gain places the Kingdom firmly in the upper tier of middle-income countries and closing the gap with OECD averages, which cluster around 85 to 90.

The improvement reflects structural investments in three areas. First, hospital accreditation has been expanded dramatically. The number of facilities holding Joint Commission International (JCI) accreditation — the global gold standard for hospital quality — has grown from approximately 40 in 2016 to over 110 by 2024. The Saudi Central Board for Accreditation of Healthcare Institutions (CBAHI) has simultaneously raised domestic accreditation standards, with mandatory compliance now required for all government and private hospitals. Second, clinical governance frameworks have been strengthened through the introduction of standardised clinical pathways, electronic medical records systems, and real-time quality monitoring dashboards. The Ministry of Health’s Aaman (Safety) programme has reduced reportable medical errors by an estimated 35 per cent since 2016.

Third, the development of centres of excellence in specialised care has elevated outcomes for complex conditions. Saudi Arabia’s organ transplantation programme now performs over 600 transplants annually with survival rates comparable to leading international centres. The King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre consistently ranks among the top 200 hospitals globally. Cancer care has been transformed through the establishment of comprehensive cancer centres in Riyadh, Jeddah, and the Eastern Province, reducing the need for patients to seek treatment abroad.

Methodology

The Healthcare Quality Index draws on multiple data sources. The primary international benchmark is the HAQ Index from the Global Burden of Disease Study, which measures age-standardised death rates from causes that should not be fatal in the presence of effective healthcare. Domestically, the Ministry of Health tracks a dashboard of quality indicators including hospital-acquired infection rates, surgical complication rates, emergency department wait times, readmission rates, and patient-reported outcome measures. CBAHI conducts regular accreditation assessments against standards aligned with ISQua (International Society for Quality in Health Care) requirements. Patient satisfaction is measured through standardised surveys administered across all government hospitals on a quarterly basis.

Related Priorities

Healthcare quality improvements directly enable the Life Expectancy KPI by reducing amenable mortality. Quality gains also support the Healthcare Coverage objective by ensuring that expanded access translates into improved health outcomes rather than simply higher utilisation. The Health Sector Transformation Programme’s privatisation component relies on quality standards to maintain service levels as delivery models shift. International quality recognition supports Saudi Arabia’s emerging medical tourism sector and its ambitions to become a regional healthcare hub.

Outlook

Reaching a HAQ Index of 85 or above by 2030 requires continued improvement of approximately one point per year — consistent with the pace achieved over the past several years. The key enablers include the ongoing rollout of electronic medical records across all government facilities (targeted for completion by 2027), the expansion of specialised training programmes for clinical staff, and the implementation of value-based care models that align provider incentives with quality outcomes.

The principal challenges include workforce capacity constraints — particularly in nursing, where Saudi Arabia’s nurse-to-population ratio remains below OECD averages — and the complexity of improving quality in primary care settings where measurement systems are less mature. The Vanderbilt Portfolio projects a HAQ Index of 83 to 86 by 2030, suggesting the target is achievable with sustained execution. The shift from volume-based to value-based care models will be the defining quality driver in the 2025-2030 period.