Vikas Kharbanda

Partner

Head, Healthcare and Life Sciences Practice, Middle East

India, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates

Vikas advises leading players in the Healthcare sector on growth strategies, operational effectiveness and digital transformations.

Education

Indian Institute of Management Calcutta
Master Business of Administration
Indian Institute of Technology Delhi
Bachelor of Technology

Past Experience

IBM Global Business Services
Senior Manager, Strategy & Transformation Practice

Vikas is a Partner with Arthur D. Little, based in Dubai, and leads the Healthcare & Life Sciences practice in the Middle East.

Over the past few years, Vikas has been working with several leading Healthcare service providers in the Middle East and Asia on their growth and expansion strategies.

In his current and previous roles, Vikas has also worked with Hospital operators on improving their operations effectiveness while enhancing patient experience.

Vikas also works extensively with clients, advising them in their digitalization strategies and leveraging technology to improve both patient experiences and operational effectiveness.

Vikas has been the author of several articles on diverse topics related to digitalization in Healthcare & the life sciences industry and has presented at several industry events.

Advancing biotechnology & genomics in Saudi Arabia
Advancing biotechnology & genomics in Saudi Arabia
Catalyzing digital health in India
Catalyzing digital health in India
A bold vision for India’s digital health
A bold vision for India’s digital health
Data-driven Healthcare
Following on the heels of other industries, the healthcare sector is undergoing a critical transformation to become data driven. As this revolution comes to the forefront, technology trends are emerging, but other interconnected factors related to both how data is gathered or analyzed and how stakeholders are involved can enable or hinder the change. Everything is digital, but healthcare a little less so.
Building the next generation of emergency care systems
Pursuing excellence: What’s next for finance in healthcare?
Managing competition, price and access
High medicine prices impose a burden on national healthcare systems, where pharmaceuticals account for a significant share of spending, especially for countries in the early stages of maturity in the pharma sector. Competition authorities have expressed concerns that access to affordable, innovative drugs may be at risk due to high prices, market withdrawals or other business strategies, along with national governments’ limited bargaining power against pharma companies.
Hospital Information Systems for the digitally-enabled era
Ambulance services – Optimizing operations
Beyond traditional network & IT organizations
With the onset of new technologies such as 5G, NFV and IoT, telecom executives are increasingly realizing that transformation of technology organization is imminent. The CTO office is at the center of this and needs to rethink its strategic roadmap and operating model. In this paper, we assess how a gradual transformation from traditional IT/network units to a more functional organization will address several of the legacy constraints in adopting new technologies.
Transforming healthcare – How curative therapies will disrupt the market
The shift to curative treatments promises to transform the entire healthcare ecosystem. Patients whose conditions were previously managed through ongoing, long-term medication can now be cured through specific courses of treatment. This transforms their lives – but, as this article explains, it also has a disruptive effect on the wider market, shifting payers’ expenditure, increasing the importance of first-mover advantage for pharmaceutical companies, and changing care models for healthcare providers.
Building the Smart Hospital Agenda
A number of factors have been contributing to a rapid change in care delivery models world-wide. Increasing cost of care, need to improve access to care, inherent complexity in treatment options and increasing involvement of patients in the care delivery cycles - all of these factors have fostered an environment where hospitals or other care delivery institutions have started shifting focus from treating episodes to managing overall health of patients, while focusing on overall value of care rather than efficiency.
Succeeding with Digital Health
Globally the market for digital health is expected to double its volume within the next three years and by 2020 to surpass USD 200 bn. The growing mobile health market is one of the main contributors to this development; its mobile solutions, applications and services will generate an increase in adjacent markets such as wireless network technologies, sensors and devices.
“Back to the Core, Focus on Customers”
The Hong Kong Jockey Club is the world's largest horse racing and entertainment organization, founded two years before Arthur D. Little in 1884. In our interview with Mr. Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges, CEO of The Hong Kong Jockey club, he shares the secrets of how he led the transformation of the Club to achieve world-class excellence, and talks about the transformation principles that have helped carry him through this journey.
The 1st Middle East Conference on TeleMedicine and mHealth
As technology continues to redefine the way healthcare is delivered and managed, the event’s aim was to bring together all major stakeholders of the e-Health ecosystem from within the Gulf states as well as globally to network, share best practices & show case innovative solutions in Telemedicine and m-Health during relevant sessions and at the concurrent exhibition.

Vikas is a Partner with Arthur D. Little, based in Dubai, and leads the Healthcare & Life Sciences practice in the Middle East.

Over the past few years, Vikas has been working with several leading Healthcare service providers in the Middle East and Asia on their growth and expansion strategies.

In his current and previous roles, Vikas has also worked with Hospital operators on improving their operations effectiveness while enhancing patient experience.

Vikas also works extensively with clients, advising them in their digitalization strategies and leveraging technology to improve both patient experiences and operational effectiveness.

Vikas has been the author of several articles on diverse topics related to digitalization in Healthcare & the life sciences industry and has presented at several industry events.

Advancing biotechnology & genomics in Saudi Arabia
Advancing biotechnology & genomics in Saudi Arabia
Catalyzing digital health in India
Catalyzing digital health in India
A bold vision for India’s digital health
A bold vision for India’s digital health
Data-driven Healthcare
Following on the heels of other industries, the healthcare sector is undergoing a critical transformation to become data driven. As this revolution comes to the forefront, technology trends are emerging, but other interconnected factors related to both how data is gathered or analyzed and how stakeholders are involved can enable or hinder the change. Everything is digital, but healthcare a little less so.
Building the next generation of emergency care systems
Pursuing excellence: What’s next for finance in healthcare?
Managing competition, price and access
High medicine prices impose a burden on national healthcare systems, where pharmaceuticals account for a significant share of spending, especially for countries in the early stages of maturity in the pharma sector. Competition authorities have expressed concerns that access to affordable, innovative drugs may be at risk due to high prices, market withdrawals or other business strategies, along with national governments’ limited bargaining power against pharma companies.
Hospital Information Systems for the digitally-enabled era
Ambulance services – Optimizing operations
Beyond traditional network & IT organizations
With the onset of new technologies such as 5G, NFV and IoT, telecom executives are increasingly realizing that transformation of technology organization is imminent. The CTO office is at the center of this and needs to rethink its strategic roadmap and operating model. In this paper, we assess how a gradual transformation from traditional IT/network units to a more functional organization will address several of the legacy constraints in adopting new technologies.
Transforming healthcare – How curative therapies will disrupt the market
The shift to curative treatments promises to transform the entire healthcare ecosystem. Patients whose conditions were previously managed through ongoing, long-term medication can now be cured through specific courses of treatment. This transforms their lives – but, as this article explains, it also has a disruptive effect on the wider market, shifting payers’ expenditure, increasing the importance of first-mover advantage for pharmaceutical companies, and changing care models for healthcare providers.
Building the Smart Hospital Agenda
A number of factors have been contributing to a rapid change in care delivery models world-wide. Increasing cost of care, need to improve access to care, inherent complexity in treatment options and increasing involvement of patients in the care delivery cycles - all of these factors have fostered an environment where hospitals or other care delivery institutions have started shifting focus from treating episodes to managing overall health of patients, while focusing on overall value of care rather than efficiency.
Succeeding with Digital Health
Globally the market for digital health is expected to double its volume within the next three years and by 2020 to surpass USD 200 bn. The growing mobile health market is one of the main contributors to this development; its mobile solutions, applications and services will generate an increase in adjacent markets such as wireless network technologies, sensors and devices.
“Back to the Core, Focus on Customers”
The Hong Kong Jockey Club is the world's largest horse racing and entertainment organization, founded two years before Arthur D. Little in 1884. In our interview with Mr. Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges, CEO of The Hong Kong Jockey club, he shares the secrets of how he led the transformation of the Club to achieve world-class excellence, and talks about the transformation principles that have helped carry him through this journey.
The 1st Middle East Conference on TeleMedicine and mHealth
As technology continues to redefine the way healthcare is delivered and managed, the event’s aim was to bring together all major stakeholders of the e-Health ecosystem from within the Gulf states as well as globally to network, share best practices & show case innovative solutions in Telemedicine and m-Health during relevant sessions and at the concurrent exhibition.

More About Vikas
  • Indian Institute of Management Calcutta
    Master Business of Administration
  • Indian Institute of Technology Delhi
    Bachelor of Technology
  • IBM Global Business Services
    Senior Manager, Strategy & Transformation Practice