ITIC MEA 2025 | Provider Network Forum
In this session of ITIC MEA, Dr Ahmed Monir shared his presentation, and then there followed a lively discussion about international healthcare provision quality and costs. Moderated by Laura Hilton, Co-Founder of Fairmount International
The ITIJ team have been reporting live from ITIC MEA in Marrakech this week (May 2025) sharing the discussions that took place at the conference. Read all reports
Dr Ahmed Monir, Founder, LGA Group
Dr Monir started his presentation by explaining what makes Egypt so special, and said that in 2023 over 14.9 million international tourists visited the country. In 2025 theexpected total number of tourists should reach approximately 17 million.
In 2024, the leading countries contributing to Egypt’s tourism were Germany, Russia and Saudi Arabia.
Dr Monir said that roadblocks in Egypt include overpricing, fraud, a lack of channels for reporting malpractices, pressure for cash payments, and no collaboration with local authorities. He said there was a reluctance to engage with local assistance partners, and that there were fake cases.
He said they are working hard onfraud detection, and that regular medical audits provide visibility and presence, which leads to improved relationships, quality assurance, and cost control and transparency.
Dr Monir said that it is important to do a SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) on providers.
Strengths include deep local expertise, on-the-ground medical teams, an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven HPASS platform, direct relationships with authorities and providers, and established medical audit frameworks.
Weaknesses include limited visibility, poor navigation of local practices, lack of control over patient direction, and misjudgement of facility capabilities. He said opportunities include fraud reduction, cost containment, building a trusted ecosystem and crisis response excellence.
Threats, meanwhile, include exposure to rogue facilities and intermediaries, aggressive collection agencies, escalation bottlenecks, and loss of control over reputation.He added thatfraud detection saves millions.
Dr Monir went on to talk about the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and that it is an emerging market. He said challenges that international insurance payers may face in KSA are a lack of historic claims data, inconsistent provider behaviour, and unclear pathways for tourist-patients.
He also said there were provider network limitations, cultural and gender sensitivities, language barriers and delays, there can be legal frameworks and disputes, there’s a vast geography, and there can be issues with claims control and cost transparency. There is also a lack of visibility on the market.
The Provider Network Forum then had a lively discussion about international healthcare provision quality and costs.
One delegate talked about red flags in Morocco, and said that there are no medical hospitals in many regions, that logistics can be very difficult.
Another delegate suggested that medical concierge centres are important. Access points are problematic – it’s important to build trust with patients, she added.
Communication is vital, another said, and so is having knowledge of the region where the patient is. She said it’s vital to check the hospital facilities where you might move a patient. Base it on the diagnostics.
Knowledge is power, another delegate added. Know what hospitals are providing what services.
One payer said they never get up-to-date medical reports on patients that come in. And, if they come by air ambulance, they sometimes don’t get a medical review.