The U.S.-U.A.E. Business Council organized a discussion on models of U.S.-U.A.E. healthcare collaboration during the 9th annual C3 U.S. Arab Healthcare & Business Summit, which was held on 23 September 2019 in New York City.

The panel included executives from three leading U.S. hospitals: Dr. Kurt Newman, President and CEO of Children’s National, Dr. Nizar Zein, Director of the Hepatology Center & Chairman of Global Patient Services at Cleveland Clinic, and Cathy Easter, President and CEO & Senior Vice President, Community Development at Houston Methodist Global Health Care Services. They were joined by Dr. Djaoued Bedjaoui, who is the Senior Medical Advisor at the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates in Washington, D.C.

From L to R: Danny Sebright, President, U.S.-U.A.E. Business Council; Dr. Nizar Zein, Director of the Hepatology Center & Chairman of Global Patient Services, Cleveland Clinic; Cathy Easter, President and CEO, Houston Methodist Global Health Care Services; Dr. Kurt Newman, President and CEO, Children’s National; and Dr. Djaoued Bedjaoui, Senior Medical Advisor, U.A.E. Embassy in Washington, D.C.

Danny Sebright, President of the U.S.-U.A.E Business Council, moderated the panel, which discussed different models of bilateral healthcare collaboration, from direct patient care to education to jointly developed and operated physical facilities such as Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi. The panelists also discussed how emerging technologies such as telehealth and AI are revolutionizing existing models of collaboration. Finally, the panelists reviewed how U.S. healthcare providers can help contain rising healthcare costs in the U.A.E. and the broader Gulf region.

Before concluding the panel, Mr. Sebright highlighted the Business Council’s newly published report on U.A.E. collaboration and participation in the U.S. healthcare sector, which surveys U.S. healthcare institutions and their important U.A.E. collaborations and partnerships inside the United States. This report compliments the Business Council’s annual report on the U.A.E. Healthcare Sector, which highlights some of the work U.S. healthcare institutions are doing in the U.A.E.

The 2019 C3 US-Arab Healthcare & Business Summit, themed Fortifying the Globalization of Healthcare and Commerce Between the US and Middle East, assembled business leaders, policy makers, educators, and healthcare professionals from the Arab world and the United States. During this luncheon, H.E. Dr. Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, Secretary General of the GCC made keynote remarks and received a distinguished leadership award.  The Summit also included panels on various topics including big data, autism, women’s health, and childhood nutrition and obesity.