Our guide to AI in everyday life in the Gulf gives a quick tour of health. This page goes deeper on one country. It sets out which UAE hospital groups say they use AI, what it does when you see a doctor, which projects are still pilots, and the rules that protect your health data. For your wider rights over personal data, see Your data rights when AI is involved.

This is a plain-language summary for orientation, not medical or legal advice. If you have questions about your own care, ask your doctor or hospital.

The short answer

  • Most healthcare AI works in the background. Many of the tools UAE hospital groups describe draft doctors' notes, summarise records, suggest billing codes or help read scans. A clinician checks the output and makes the decision.
  • Some tools are in use. M42 said in October 2026 that its Ossi platform "has been activated" at seven of its facilities in the UAE and Bahrain. Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi says it uses an AI system called Transpara in breast screening. SEHA said in 2022 that it uses AI to read retinal images at 11 centres.
  • Others are pilots or plans. PureHealth's note-taking assistant, Nada, was a pilot in December 2025. Mediclinic's work with Commure covers a project with more than 60 doctors. Burjeel's patient-facing AI agents were announced in April 2025 as a plan.
  • Abu Dhabi and Dubai both have AI rules for healthcare. Abu Dhabi's Department of Health says clinicians "should retain ultimate decision-making authority" and patients must be told when AI contributes to decisions about them. Dubai's policy says AI that can significantly affect people must be able to be overridden.
  • Your health data generally stays in the UAE. Under the federal health data law, Federal Law No. 2 of 2019, health data from care in the UAE may be stored, processed or transferred abroad only in cases set by a decision of the health authority, in coordination with the Ministry. Records must be kept for at least 25 years.

What you might notice as a patient

Most of this is invisible. These are the places where you are most likely to meet it.

  • A doctor's device listening to the consultation. An "ambient scribe" listens to the conversation and drafts the clinical note. The doctor reviews and edits it. M42, PureHealth and Mediclinic all describe tools of this kind. M42 says its tool is meant to "ease the burden of clinical documentation and enable more time for clinician–patient interaction". You can ask whether one is in use and what happens to the recording.
  • A second reader for scans. AI can mark areas of a mammogram or an eye photograph for a specialist to look at. The specialist still reads the image and decides.
  • A summary of your record before you arrive. Some systems pull your history together so the doctor can review it quickly.
  • Messages, reminders and appointment help. Some groups plan AI agents that book appointments, send health information and follow up after a visit. Check what is actually running where you are treated.
  • Video in the operating theatre. Under an Abu Dhabi plan announced in May 2026, surgical video will be captured and anonymised data used to develop AI for surgery.

None of this replaces your doctor. Both emirates' rules expect a person to stay in charge. Our glossary explains this idea as human-in-the-loop.

Who is using what

Announcements and day-to-day use are not the same thing. Our glossary entry on announced vs operational explains why we keep them apart. The table shows what each organisation said, and when.

OrganisationWhat the AI doesStatus, as statedDate of the claim
M42 (facilities incl. Mubadala Health Dubai, Healthpoint, ICLDC)Ossi: drafts notes, summarises records, answers clinical questions, suggests codes"Activated" at seven facilities in the UAE and BahrainOct 2026
Cleveland Clinic Abu DhabiTranspara flags areas of concern on mammogramsIn useSep 2022; repeated Aug 2026
Cleveland Clinic Abu DhabiAila: doctors query clinical data in plain language, starting with prostate cancerLaunched; first use in prostate cancerJun 2026
SEHA / PureHealthAI reading of retinal imagesIntroduced at 11 centres; AI-supported retinal screening mentioned again in Sep 2026Jun 2022; Sep 2026
SEHA / PureHealthNada: drafts notes from consultationsPilot at selected facilitiesDec 2025
Mediclinic Middle EastCommure ambient AI drafts notes for doctors to reviewProject with 60+ doctors at two Dubai hospitalsOct 2026
Burjeel HoldingsHippocratic AI agents for scheduling, education, risk checks, follow-upsAnnounced; "will be deployed"Apr 2025
DoH Abu Dhabi with Johnson & JohnsonSurgical video and data platform across operating theatresPlanned; hospitals "will deploy"May 2026

Sources for each row are listed at the end of the page.

M42 and Mubadala Health

M42 is an Abu Dhabi health group whose facilities include Mubadala Health Dubai, Healthpoint and Imperial College London Diabetes Centre. It launched Ossi at the Abu Dhabi Future Health Summit, held from 20 to 22 October 2026. M42 said Ossi "has been activated across seven of M42 healthcare facilities in the UAE and Bahrain": Amana UAE, Amana Bahrain, Healthpoint, HealthPlus, Mubadala Health Dubai, Sheikh Sultan bin Zayed Hospital and Imperial College London Diabetes Centre in Abu Dhabi.

Ossi has four "agents", or task-specific tools. One "transcribes clinical conversations and prepares draft documentation for clinician review". One retrieves and summarises information from electronic medical records. One helps clinicians find clinical information and "prepare patient-friendly educational content". The fourth suggests medical codes "for review by the appropriate teams". M42 says the platform supports compliance with "regional data governance regulations, including those in the UAE".

At the launch, The National quoted Kareem Shahin, M42's chief executive of Digital Health Solutions Platform and group chief digital officer, as saying that the final decision will be made by "the doctor himself". He said Ossi listens to Arabic and English.

M42 also runs Malaffi, covered below.

Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi

In 2022 the hospital said it uses an AI system called Transpara in breast cancer screening. It "gives radiologists immediate, objective feedback on areas of suspicion identified on a mammogram". In August 2026, WAM reported that the hospital uses Transpara to mark suspicious areas "ahead of clinician evaluation". WAM also reported an AI-powered imaging system used in urgent stroke procedures.

On 17 June 2026 the hospital and the AI company Owkin announced Aila, which the hospital calls a "clinical AI scientist". Doctors ask questions in plain language and Aila searches large amounts of clinical data. The first use is in prostate cancer, drawing on health records, doctors' notes, pathology reports and imaging. It is designed to support doctors' decisions and medical research.

SEHA and PureHealth

SEHA, the Abu Dhabi Health Services Company, is part of PureHealth. In June 2022 SEHA said it had introduced AI at 11 centres, four in Abu Dhabi and seven in Al Ain, for "significantly faster reading and interpretation of retinal images". The main purpose is to catch diabetic eye disease early. In September 2026 PureHealth said SEHA clinics are "supported by AI-enabled, data-driven diagnostics", including radiology reporting and retinal screening.

In December 2025 PureHealth announced a pilot of Nada, an assistant that captures and organises clinical notes during consultations. It "listens only within the clinical consultation", according to PureHealth. "The pilot has been rolled out across selected PureHealth healthcare facilities." PureHealth said it expects Nada to cut documentation time "by more than 50 per cent". That is the company's expectation, not a measured result.

In August 2026 WAM reported that Sheikh Khalifa Medical City and Al Ain Hospital use "advanced algorithms and smart alert systems to predict sepsis and septic shock hours before onset".

SEHA in Abu Dhabi is not the same as Saudi Arabia's Seha Virtual Hospital, which our tracker covers at CR-S05.

Burjeel Holdings

On 17 April 2025 Burjeel Holdings and the AI company Hippocratic AI announced a partnership. The announcement said AI agents for "patient-facing non-diagnostic clinical tasks" would handle "appointment scheduling, patient education, health risk assessments, and follow-up check ins". They "will be deployed" across Burjeel's hospitals, medical centres and physiotherapy clinics in the UAE and Oman. Gulf News reported that the agents would be added to Burjeel's app, website and call centres, and could speak Emirati Arabic. This was a plan when announced. When we checked on 25 October 2026, we found no statement from Burjeel or Hippocratic AI, or report in Gulf media, that the agents had gone live. Ask Burjeel what is running at your branch.

Mediclinic Middle East

At the Abu Dhabi Future Health Summit in October 2026, Mediclinic Middle East and the technology company Commure marked their collaboration on ambient AI. It builds on "an existing project involving 60+ doctors" at Mediclinic Parkview Hospital and Mediclinic City Hospital in Dubai. The tool turns parts of the consultation into structured notes "for the doctor to review and reconcile". The companies said they "continue to evaluate" how it can be used. Mediclinic Al Ain Hospital's website also offers "artificial intelligence technology in endoscopic examination".

Department of Health – Abu Dhabi and Malaffi

The Department of Health – Abu Dhabi (DoH) regulates healthcare in the emirate. It launched Malaffi, the emirate's health information exchange. It connects hospitals, clinics and other facilities so that your records can be shared between the places that treat you. M42's subsidiary Abu Dhabi Health Data Services runs it. In August 2025 M42 said Malaffi had 3.5 billion clinical records connected, with 12.7 million unique patient profiles and 3,072 facilities. It also listed "the AI-powered Patient Risk Profile, which predicts risks for chronic conditions and acute events".

On 21 May 2026 Johnson & Johnson announced work with DoH on what it calls an intelligent operating-theatre network, with Abu Dhabi as the first node. Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, PureHealth, Mediclinic Group and NMC Healthcare "will deploy" J&J's Polyphonic platform. Each case will add to a "structured, anonymized surgical dataset" for developing surgical AI.

Dubai

In August 2026 WAM reported that Rashid Hospital and Dubai Hospital use "intelligent triage software in emergency departments" to speed up critical care and reduce waiting times. It also reported that Al Jalila Children's Specialty Hospital uses "algorithm-assisted digital EEG devices" to predict seizures.

The rules that protect you

The federal health data law

Federal Law No. 2 of 2019 covers the use of information and communication technology in healthcare across the UAE. Three parts matter most for patients:

  • Data stays in the UAE by default. Health data about care given in the UAE may be stored, processed, generated or transferred abroad only in cases set by a decision of the health authority, in coordination with the Ministry (Article 13). Breaking this rule carries a fine of AED 500,000 to AED 700,000 (Article 24). Our glossary explains this as data residency.
  • There are listed exceptions. Ministerial Decision No. 51 of 2021 lists cases where transfer is allowed, each with conditions. They include treatment abroad, research approved by the health authority, insurance claims where no data identifying the patient is sent, and simple personal devices such as wearables (CMS, June 2021; Simmons & Simmons, June 2021).
  • Confidentiality and retention. Anyone handling patient information must keep it confidential and must not use it for non-health purposes without the patient's written approval, with exceptions such as insurers' audits, research that does not reveal identity, public health, and courts (Article 16). Records must be kept for "no less than 25 (twenty-five) years" from the last health procedure (Article 20).

The general federal data-protection law does not cover health data that has its own law. Our data rights page explains that law.

Abu Dhabi: the DoH Responsible AI Standard

DoH issued a policy on AI in healthcare in April 2018. In October 2025 it published a Responsible AI Standard. The Standard applies to DoH and all licensed healthcare organisations in the emirate that develop, buy or deploy AI. For patients, the main points are:

  • Organisations must have ways "to inform patients, clinicians, and relevant stakeholders when AI contributes to clinical or operational decisions".
  • "Patients must be informed of their right to opt out of AI-driven services where applicable."
  • Explanations for patients must be plain-language summaries.
  • "Clinicians should retain ultimate decision-making authority in all AI-assisted healthcare scenarios."
  • The computing and storage for AI systems, including backup sites, "must be situated within the UAE".

The Standard lists October 2026 as its revision date, so an update may follow.

Dubai: the DHA policy

The Dubai Health Authority (DHA) published its policy, Artificial Intelligence in the Healthcare, in 2021. It applies to healthcare facilities and professionals licensed by DHA that use AI. It requires that:

  • AI tools disclose which features are AI-enabled and "what the role of the healthcare professional is in making a final decision".
  • AI that may significantly affect people's lives can be "overridden or their decisions reversed by designated end users".
  • AI tools have "built-in appeals procedures whereby users can challenge significant decisions".
  • AI tools are independently validated by a competent third party, and comply with Federal Law No. 2 of 2019.

The copy on DHA's website lists 1 July 2026 as its revision date. That date has passed, so check DHA's website for any newer version.

Questions you can ask

You do not need to be an expert to ask about AI in your care. Reasonable questions include:

  1. Is an AI tool being used in my consultation, or on my scans?
  2. Who checks what it produces, and who makes the final decision?
  3. Is the consultation recorded, and where is the recording kept?
  4. In Abu Dhabi: can I opt out, and what happens if I do?

Staff should be able to answer. In Abu Dhabi the Standard expects them to tell you when AI contributes to a decision.

What to watch

  • Whether Ossi spreads beyond seven sites, and whether M42 publishes results from clinical use.
  • Whether pilots become routine. Watch for PureHealth to say whether Nada has moved beyond selected facilities, and for Mediclinic's next steps with Commure.
  • Burjeel's agents. Watch for a statement that they are live, and in which services.
  • Updated rules. The DoH Standard lists October 2026 as its revision date. The DHA policy's listed revision date, 1 July 2026, has passed.
  • The surgical network. Watch how many operating theatres join, and how the anonymised data is governed.

Sources

Primary sources

Secondary sources