Response Plus Medical’s CEO on meeting today’s evolving healthcare needs

In the rapidly evolving healthcare landscape of the Middle East, Response Plus Medical (RPM) has carved a niche for itself as the largest provider of pre-hospital medical services in the region.

The company has an extensive portfolio that includes onsite healthcare, medical emergency services, and occupational health solutions.

The company’s impressive fleet of over 350 ambulances, coupled with its management of 200 offshore and onshore clinics in the oil and gas sector, highlights its extensive reach and capabilities.

RPM’s expansion into Saudi Arabia in 2019 was a strategic move aligned with the kingdom’s Vision 2030. Since then, it has become a preferred provider of ambulance and emergency medical services, offering care at airports, construction sites, oil and gas locations, educational institutions, and major sporting events.

The company’s achievements include providing medical cover for high-profile events such as the Dakar Rally and the Formula 1 Grand Prix, as well as inaugurating the Response Plus Medical Complex in Dammam, the first specialised private occupational health centre in the region.

In this exclusive interview with Gulf Business, RPM CEO, Dr Rohil Raghavan delves into RPM’s operations, key achievements and future goals.

From their recent acquisition of Prometheus Medical International to their innovative partnerships and cutting-edge technological advancements, we explore how RPM continues to enhance the quality of healthcare services in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and beyond.

Tell us about RPM’s operations in the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

Response Plus Medical is the largest provider of pre-hospital medical services in the region with onsite healthcare, medical emergency services and occupational health solutions in the region.

In the oil and gas sector, RPM manages 200 offshore and onshore clinics, a fleet of 350-plus ambulances and 1,000+ air evacuations in a year.

We have conducted more than 1.2 million training sessions for healthcare and non-healthcare professionals, performed over 10,000 helicopter medical emergency evacuations, and offered reliable medical support for major sporting events in the region. And now through its latest acquisition – Prometheus Medical International, it conducts medical training for military personnel, HEMS training for helicopter operators and high-end VIP medical concierge services.

The company made its way to the Saudi market in 2019 to contribute to the kingdom’s Vision 2030 by delivering extraordinary on-site medical services at airports, construction locations, oil and gas sites, educational institutions and beyond.

Over the past few years, the company has become one of the most preferred ambulance and emergency medical services in Saudi Arabia with a firm commitment to superior healthcare that will only grow as our offerings expand in the country.

Since its inception, Saudi RPM has provided medical cover for international sporting and entertainment events, including the Dakar Rally, Formula 1 Grand Prix, Global Rally Championship, Jeddah season events and Soundstorm among others.

We also inaugurated the Response Plus Medical Complex in 2023, the first specialised private occupational health centre in Dammam, offering a wide range of services such as health surveillance, occupational health assessments, and pre-employment medicals.

Boasting a well-trained and experienced clinical team that comprises occupational speciality doctors, nurses, and technicians, the complex can handle all occupational medicine-related needs.

Saudi RPM has also become one of the first registered private ambulance service providers to operate in the kingdom, in addition to opening a specialised ambulance centre and medical training centre in Riyadh.

Our EMS team in Riyadh operates a 24/7 Operational Command Centre (OCC), also known as the Emergency Medical Dispatch Centre.

In terms of ambulances, our fleet has been equipped with computer-aided dispatch technology to prioritise and record incident calls, identify the status and location of responders in the field, and effectively dispatch responder personnel.

Share the key achievements and highlights for RPM in 2023 and so far in 2024.

Earlier this year, Response Plus Holding completed the acquisition of the UK-based Prometheus Medical International, marking a significant milestone in its international expansion strategy. The acquisition is aligned with RPM’s vision to enhance its service offerings and geographical reach across its group portfolio.

The acquisition of Prometheus Medical International, which operates offices in the UK, Norway, UAE, and Switzerland, further adds diversity to the RPM group. Along with this acquisition, the group has started high-level medical training for the military in several countries.

In 2024, we earned the prestigious Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare (JHAH) Accreditation for our Type A Clinic – Physician Operated facility in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, which includes Laboratory and Radiology Services. This significant milestone underscores RPM’s unwavering commitment to delivering top-tier medical services and reinforces its vision to become the best medical service provider in the region.

The JHAH Accreditation for RPM’s Type A Clinic is a significant endorsement of our capability to offer exceptional healthcare services. It highlights our commitment to medical service excellence as well as to continuous improvement in healthcare quality. With it, we are better positioned to serve our clients, providing them with a trusted and high-quality healthcare experience.

As a company, we have also supported the air evacuation of hundreds of injured Palestinians from Gaza, along with the UAE government in the Gallant Knight 3 mission, which is an ongoing project to this date.

Last year, we also received the Joint Commission International (JCI) accreditation for 148 ADNOC site clinics operated by RPM, reinforcing the commitment to international standards for quality and patient safety and adherence to the highest clinical protocols.

What are some of the key trends you are seeing in your sector and how will they impact the quality of healthcare?

We are working towards a future, where traditional silos are broken and where technology and multi-stakeholder collaboration becomes the norm.

For a pre-hospital service provider like RPM, adopting technological advancements is part of advancing our service delivery. Accordingly, we have partnered with different entities to ensure the streamlining of technological adaptations to ensure the best and fastest care delivery to our patients.

For example, our partnership with etisalat by e& enables us to provide emergency medical services and occupational health solutions in the UAE to power our fleet of ambulances with remote diagnosis solutions and connect patients, ambulance staff and medical experts using the 5G private network for the first time in the country.

This partnership also allows us to operate 5G-enabled ambulances, making us the first in the region to offer this service, which helps paramedics to get complete patient data, in real-time, resulting in better emergency outcomes. We are also working with different entities to provide world-class AI solutions in the management of our ambulance fleet and optimising its efficiency.

Can you provide insights into any major projects or initiatives that contributed to RPM’s success in 2024?

Our recent acquisition of Prometheus Medical International was truly a major milestone for us. It will not only offer us capabilities in emergency consultancy, training services, and remote health sectors but also open up new markets for RPM in the UK and Nordic regions.

As a UAE-based company, we have a strong presence in the energy sector, medical air evacuations, large-scale events and other industries. However, we are now looking at expanding our presence in the pre-hospital care, remote health services, and niche medical training services. Therefore, we believe that the acquisition of new international companies will strengthen our training and consultancy programs, and this has already started this year as a new set of training programs will be introduced in the UAE market soon.

How has RPM’s patient care and service quality evolved over the past year?

We ensure unparalleled care to patients throughout their pre-hospital journey, ensuring their well-being until they reach the hospital. We aim to redefine the scope of advanced healthcare solutions in the corporate as well as public sectors at large with a wide range of verticals including Emergency Medical Services, O&M of healthcare facilities, medical manpower supply, etc.

Over the last year, we have scaled up our patient care and service quality aspects across our operations in the UAE and the kingdom. Through our training academy and educational partnerships, we hope to actively be part of the fundamental shift in the healthcare sector. Our focus is to finalise global partnerships with key healthcare specialists and welcome various new layers within our comprehensive model to the GCC.

What are RPM’s primary goals for expanding into the UAE, Saudi Arabia and the UK-Nordic region?

One of our key strategic priorities is to become a global player in pre-hospital care. We are constantly seeking expansion opportunities into new markets with the hope of ushering in a new chapter of achievements and success.

One area of expansion that we are looking into is the possibility of widening the scope of our medical training programs across sectors. Our niche training programs are in fact industry-specific and widely in demand. Our team assesses risks and tailor-makes the training programme based on the organisation’s needs, which best serves every entity’s specific objective and gives us an edge.

Can you discuss the specific strategies RPM will implement to enter and succeed in these new markets?

We are looking at sustaining and growing our impressive success journey – across our service offerings as well as our group’s geographical footprint. One of our key strategic priorities is to become a global player in pre-hospital care. To achieve this success, we will look to leveraging our expertise in emergency medical care in the energy sector and other industries, and tap into building our medical evacuation capabilities.

What partnerships or collaborations are you exploring to support your expansion efforts?

We are focused on fortifying our partnerships with key organizations across both the public and the private sector by fostering collaborative efforts and synergies to drive sustained growth and innovation for RPM in the UAE and beyond. We are currently collaborating with few entities in the UAE and Saudi Arabia to expand the scope of our services into emergency medical care.

How does RPM plan to address the unique healthcare needs and regulatory requirements in each of these regions?

Yes, each market is unique and we as the leading pre-hospital care brand, need to adapt to the unique healthcare needs and regulatory guidelines in every geography we operate in. Our experiences over the years, and our wide-ranging expertise, hold us in good stead in providing high-quality services – be it the UAE or Saudi Arabia or other markets where we operate.

What timeline are you looking at for the expansion into these markets, and what milestones do you expect to achieve?

We realise the potential for pre-hospital medical care, training and medical air evacuation across different markets. Time is of the essence. With the number of giga projects announced in Saudi Arabia, it would be prudent to make concrete efforts in the Kingdom. We’ve made budgetary allocations to support our growth plans in 2024.

We have budgeted 25 per cent in our revenue growth in 2024 at a group level. While in Saudi Arabia, we are eyeing over 100 per cent revenue growth in 2024, primarily led by projects, and events support.

What is RPM’s long-term vision for becoming a leading global pre-hospital services provider?

We are the leaders in pre-hospital medical care in the region and we aim to be the best provider across the globe. To achieve this, we need to keep spreading our services with the continuous support of all our skilled personnel and trusted partners.

Through this, we will chart a course towards continued success and growth. We are committed to creating a memorable and impactful healthcare experience for our stakeholders and communities.

How does RPM ensure it stays ahead of industry trends and adapts to changing healthcare landscapes?

Innovation is the buzzword in healthcare and at Response Plus Medical.

Our vision for RPM is to make ambulance transfers more than transfers for the patient. We intend to initiate patient care in coordination with the receiving hospital emergency staff, this allows the treatment to be started well before the patient is wheeled into the hospital. This groundbreaking technology promises faster response times and a redefined standard for emergency care. The 5G-connected ambulance is an innovative technology in pre-hospital care. When a patient is transferred in these 5G ambulances, throughout the journey all medical parameters are communicated live to the designated hospital healthcare workers.

As the leaders, the onus is on us to drive the future of the industry.

Read: How the digital revolution is reshaping healthcare in the Middle East