Athir: The HealthTech platform digitizing the healthcare cycle in Saudi Arabia
As Saudi Arabia pursues the transformations prescribed within its Vision 2030, rapid progress has been made on implementing digital health initiatives. In 2022, McKinsey estimated that the combined digital health market in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, where such technologies are also seeing significant uptake, could reach US$4 billion by 2026. The estimate was driven by existing high adoption rates of digital health solutions, high user retention for these solutions, the prioritization by consumers of the time savings and convenience offered by digital health opportunities, and demonstrated interest by non-users in trying digital health solutions in the future.
In accordance with national transformation strategies, digital health initiatives launched by the public sector include telehealth options to accommodate a growing population and alleviate pressure from hospitals, with mobile applications allowing patients to manage their appointments and health information. According to the Saudi Ministry of Health, notable achievements include the launch of the electronic health record system and the increase in the number of hospitals using Hospital Information Systems.
The healthcare transformation strategy also allows for the increased participation of the private sector, increasing scope for innovation in HealthTech. One company leading digital health transformations is Athir, which launched in 2018 to centralize the operations normally undertaken by healthcare providers and users under one platform. Athir’s cloud-based Healthcare Information System (HIS) allows participating health entities to combine the functions undertaken by its various departments into one place. For example, HIS streamlines processes associated with medical insurance and financing and organizes requests for tests from laboratories to increase efficiency. Further, HIS allows users to view and manage appointments and integrates information about patients’ pharmacy transactions. Athir creates a unified medical file for patients to ensure that all departments have access to the same information. It also allows patients to manage appointments and payments and view details of their medical treatments electronically through a dedicated app and portal.
Athir’s offerings in the healthcare sector are organized as four solutions; in addition to Athir’s HIS, other solutions include Athir RCM, which streamlines the medical insurance cycle; Athir CARE, under which features for use by patients fall; and Athir DASH, which collects and analyzes business decisions to help healthcare facilities make informed decisions.
Athir’s products have been implemented in more than 200 public and private sector institutions, serving over 2.3 million patients and integrating 14 existing healthcare systems under one umbrella. The company closed its most recent investment round in August 2024, receiving investments from entities including Wa’ed Ventures, the venture capital arm of Saudi Aramco. As it continues to grow, Athir is pioneering the digital transformation of the healthcare sector in Saudi Arabia and the wider region.
