March 2017

112 APAC / March 2017 , TristarMedical Group is a proactive and progressive management group which specialises in providing high quality, accessible, multidisciplinary, integrated health care to regional and rural communities. We interviewed Founder and CEODr Khaled El-Sheikh to find out more. Tristar Medical Group: A Leading Light in Medical Services Tristar Medical Group was established to ensure that high quality, accessible and affordable medical services would always be available to regional and rural communities. From those humble beginnings, the Tristar Medical Group has gone on to establish a network of outstanding clinics, as Khaled outlines as he discusses how the group came into being. “As a qualified doctor from Egypt, I moved to Australia in 1995 when I began the process of requalification in order to practice medicine in this country. During this time, I observed that primary care, particularly in rural areas outside of the main cities, was severely deficient, and this was causing a lot of time, money and pain to patients whose problems often remained unsolved, causing them to have to pay even more to visit a better facility in the nearest city. “Also, the local community was suffering because of this. As a Doctor who was retraining in order to work in Australia I had to work outside of the metropolitan areas for a number of years as part of my training, and I saw first-hand the problems which people were facing in these areas. While I was working in the rural areas I studied the system and found the way through which would ensure that I was able to better support patients in these rural communities. “Once I qualified I used this knowledge to build the Tristar Medical Group. When I created the main approach, it was easy to grow and succeed through the group’s focus on quality service and helping doctors to support their patients.” This innovative focus on rural communities has led the firm to the success it enjoys today, and the group now comprises of 54 medical centres across the country, as Khaled explains. “Tristar Medical Group comprises of a vast network of clinics based across Australia, which includes specialist centres, a mental health unit and clinics dedicated to pre-employment medicals. Tristar has also pioneered a number of important initiatives including training and support for all medical staff with specialised programs designed specifically for International Medical Graduates. Tristar also offers patients the convenience of being able to visit any one of the Tristar clinics and have their medical records available. “In addition, our clinics are predominately bulk billing, unlike most other clinics. Tristar offers traditional family medicine and gives patients the ability to make an appointment with their choice of a doctor.” In order to make a real difference to market, Khaled and the team at Tristar have had to work hard to turn the clinics they work with around, ensuring that they remain at the forefront of emerging developments in the medical market and are as efficient and effective as possible. Looking ahead, Khaled believes that the firm’s future will be founded in technology, as the digitalisation of the medical industry offers many exciting opportunities to better support patients, particularly those living in rural communities who currently do not have access to the same quality of medical equipment and resources. “Ultimately, we are living in the digital world now, and doctors are always interested in new ways to improve their treatment and better care for their patients. It took years and years to get medical professionals in rural Australia to embrace these changes, however, and it took a lot of hard work just to get medical records and observations computerised. “It is my belief that medical services in this country are not using the technology we have now to their best advantage, and as such we have a long way to go before we can see the full impact of the digitalisation of the medical industry, but I believe that we can achieve this through hard work and commitment. We want to reach the stage where we can support a patient, wherever they are, through their treatment, ensuring that we use the doctor’s time and knowledge efficiently to ensure that they can treat patients remotely. This will support those based in rural, isolated areas especially, and we look forward to implementing the exciting developments in communication, diagnostics and records management.” K Company: Tristar Medical Group Address: Level 1, 87-89 Langtree Avenue, Mildura VIC 3500 Phone: +61 3 5022 5800 Website: www.tristarmedicalgroup.com.au 1701AP50