Dubai: Sherif Bishara, CEO of Mohammed & Obaid Al Mulla Group and CEO of the American Hospital Group, emphasised that protecting patients and the reputation of the healthcare sector is a shared responsibility, and that true transparency requires acknowledging and addressing errors rather than concealing them. This came during the "Government Communication... People-Centered" session at the Arab Media Summit 2026 in Dubai. The session, moderated by Hamed Bin Karam, Editor-in-Chief of Al Bayan newspaper, discussed the relationship between media and the healthcare sector, the role of communication in managing health awareness, overseas treatment, health insurance, reputation management, complaints, and the future of the relationship between healthcare institutions and media platforms.Bishara stressed that the health sector cannot view its relationship with the media as a commercial relationship measured by direct profit and loss, explaining that health is an “industry and investment,” but dealing with it with the logic of commerce alone leads to reducing many initiatives to one question: What will we gain and what will we lose?He added that health institutions are required to look at the bigger picture, especially since the media plays a direct role in shaping and managing the health awareness of society. Therefore, the contribution of the health sector to supporting professional media capable of providing correct medical information is not a matter of propaganda, but rather part of its responsibility towards society.Bishara stressed that Dubai’s experience offers a different model in the relationship between the public and private sectors, saying that in Dubai the two sectors should not be viewed as separate paths when it comes to the emirate’s strategic goals.He explained that what distinguishes Dubai is the ability of the public and private sectors to move within a common direction and strategy, noting that when a private health institution talks about the health strategy in Dubai, it is not supposed to present a vision that contradicts the general direction, because the ultimate goal is one, which is to improve the quality of the health sector and enhance the position of the emirate.He stressed that the responsibility for the reputation of the health sector does not fall on government agencies or hospitals alone, saying, “The reputation of health in Dubai is our responsibility, and the reputation of health in the Emirates is our responsibility,” which requires moving from narrow institutional competition to a broader concept based on protecting the patient and the quality of the entire system.International treatmentRegarding the issue of treatment abroad, Bishara explained that there should be a precise strategy that defines the mechanisms for selecting medical institutions and doctors from whom patients receive treatment, instead of dealing with travel for treatment as an end in itself.He said that just as there are devices and systems inside hospitals to measure the quality of treatment, there is a need for a device that monitors and measures the quality of treatment outside the country for patients who are sent for treatment, noting that the decision to travel alone does not guarantee better care.He warned against the belief that simply going to a country known for its medical expertise automatically means access to the best treatment, explaining that a single hospital may include dozens or hundreds of specialties, and each specialty has different levels of expertise, and results vary from one doctor to another.He added that the real question should not be: “Which country will the patient travel to?” but rather: Which hospital? In which specialty? With which doctor? What are the results of this doctor? And does he really represent the best option for the case?He stressed that these details make the management of treatment abroad “a system no less important than the health system itself,” which calls for a very clear strategy for treatment abroad, starting with assessing the case and choosing the appropriate medical destination, and ending only with monitoring the results and the quality of care that the patient received.Bishara pointed out that one of the basic criteria for the maturity of the health system is the ability of institutions to refer the patient to the most efficient entity for treatment, even if it is another institution, instead of keeping him for financial reasons.He explained that if a patient arrives at the American Hospital needing a procedure for which the required expertise is lacking, while that expertise is available at another hospital, medical responsibility dictates transferring the patient to the facility that can provide the best care. He emphasised that the patient must be the focus of decision-making, not the financial returns of the institution, warning that prioritising commercial interests over the patient's medical well-being harms the healthcare system as a whole.He revealed that the American Hospital received cases from Germany after their treatment opportunities were deemed limited, and they were able to receive treatment in Dubai, including well-known figures, without disclosing their identities to preserve privacy. He considered that these cases confirm that the quality of treatment cannot be reduced to the name of the country, but is related to the specialisation, the doctor, and the available medical experience.In response to a question about the prevailing belief among some that traveling to Asian or other countries might provide better care, Bishara acknowledged that there are reasons why some residents do not give the local health system their full confidence, explaining that some institutions provide all services with the required quality, while the same level is not achieved in other places.Treatment abroad is not a guarantee of qualityBut he stressed that travel in itself is not a guarantee of quality, pointing out that there are patients who travel abroad and then return with serious complications as a result of choosing an institution or doctor based on advertising or low cost, and not according to standards of quality, experience and medical results.Hence, he stressed the importance of having a monitoring and information system that helps the patient make the right decision, whether his treatment is inside or outside the country, because the standard should be the quality of service and patient safety, not the reputation of the destination.Bishara placed transparency at the forefront of the tools healthcare institutions need to build trust, emphasising that reputation management doesn't mean hiding negatives, but rather having the courage to acknowledge and address mistakes. He said, "To gain the credibility of the reader or patient, highlight your errors and don't hide them," noting that deleting negative comments or trying to conceal problems on digital platforms doesn't build a strong reputation and can even be counterproductive.He explained that the American Hospital's online platforms allow for feedback and criticism to be made public, and these are addressed by specialised teams who contact the complainant, investigate the details, and work to resolve the issue. He emphasised that some complaints are genuine and require immediate attention, while others may stem from misunderstandings or errors on the part of the other party. In such cases, fairness is paramount; an employee's rights should not be disregarded to appease a complainant, nor should the rights of the patient be compromised by favouring an employee.Bishara revealed that the American Hospital itself files complaints with the competent health authorities against doctors in the event that medical errors are detected that warrant investigation, stressing that terminating the doctor’s relationship with the hospital alone is not enough to protect society.He explained that if a doctor makes a mistake that warrants accountability and then simply leaves the institution, he may move to another hospital and continue treating patients, and thus the problem is not solved, but rather transferred from one institution to another.He said that the responsibility extends beyond the hospital and the patient inside it to protecting the whole community, stressing that the safety of people takes precedence over protecting the institutional image, and that the health sector needs a culture that considers reporting the mistake as a means to correct the system and not a threat to the reputation of the institution.The session addressed the role of insurance companies in raising the efficiency of health services or influencing them, as Bishara described the system as being based on three main parties: hospitals that provide the service, the regulatory or administrative body, and insurance companies that play a key role in financing.He explained that insurance companies are not a marginal party in the sector, as financing is one of the pillars of the sustainability of health services, and therefore the efficiency of the relationship between the three parties is directly reflected in the quality of service provided to the patient.He stressed that any real development of the sector must view these parties as interconnected parts of a single system, so that funding does not become a factor that limits the quality of care, and health service does not become a commercial decision separate from the patient’s needs.In the media sector, Bishara stressed that digital transformation does not mean the end of journalistic institutions, but rather a change in the means by which they reach the public, distinguishing between the end of the print version and the end of the media institution itself.In response to a question from Bin Karam about the feasibility of advertising in newspapers given the decline in print editions, he pointed out that the institution does not necessarily advertise on a "paper," but rather on a media platform that has a name, influence, trust, and an audience.
