Export opportunity – UAE digital health

UAE – digital health opportunity summary 

The UAE is intensifying its efforts to build a robust, world-class healthcare system - one of the core objectives of its National Agenda UAE Vision 2021. 

2022 saw rising demand for healthcare services, an increasing focus on preventative care and wellness and greater collaboration between public and private sector in the UAE. With the increase in demand for personalised and speciality care, and changes in healthcare regulation and policy, the UAE also saw growing investment in digital health technologies in 2022. 

As the healthcare landscape continues to evolve at a rapid pace, new digital tools will shape the future of care delivery methods, payments and health records. Capital flowing into the space will continue to propel innovation, consolidation and optimisation.  

Scale of export opportunity

The UAE’s digital healthcare platform processed over 4 million insurance claims in less than eight months in 2022. The platform is accessible to 6000 doctors, 40 paying agents and over 1000 healthcare facilities. The country has a significantly advanced unified medical record, leading to a very competitive digital health market. 

Following investment from Abu Dhabi’s Health Authority and other authorities, the UAE has in place the ‘infrastructure layer’, which is the necessary foundation for a tech enabled ecosystem, something that many other countries are still struggling with.  

The UAE government is also increasing its 2022-2026 healthcare budget spend to DHS 4.9 billion, which is 8.4% of its total federal budget.    

There are many areas of opportunity linked to digital health transformation in the UAE for Scottish digital health companies, including value-based healthcare and population health, remote monitoring wearables and analytics, data collection and predictive analytics solutions for patient records. 

Company suitability

Scottish companies best positioned to win this type of business will fit with some of the following: 

• Digital health companies
• Companies with an established client base and experience in the UK health and care system
• Providers of innovative solutions in the following areas:
  • Home healthcare service and remote monitoring 
  • Mental health and wellness in the workplace apps and knowledge exchange 
  • Telemedicine and digital solutions 
  • AI and machine learning for predictive analytics in healthcare
  • Enhancing health security
  • Women’s health 
  • Sustainable healthcare