MedIQ, one of Pakistan’s recognized digital health platforms, has now positioned itself at the forefront of the country’s artificial intelligence revolution. With a multi-million-dollar investment into in-house AI development, the company is transforming its operations from traditional telemedicine into a data-driven healthcare system provider.
This move doesn’t just represents technological advancement, it marks a strategic shift toward building one of Pakistan’s first large-scale, healthcare-specific AI infrastructure, trained on local medical realities.
The company’s new AI engine automates the entire clinical workflow. From multilingual pre-consultation triage to real-time medical note taking during appointments and even post-consultation patient management, MedIQ’s system guides patients as well as practitioners through every step of their healthcare journey.
For hospitals, the impact is immediate: time spent on documentation drops and patient throughput increases. For Pakistan’s overburdened healthcare system where clinicians often see dozens of patients per shift, AI-driven efficiency is not just convenient, it’s essential to ease that burden.
What sets MedIQ apart is its commitment to building its AI locally rather than relying on foreign models, which is trained on millions of Pakistani patient records and tested widely before full scale deployment. Backed by strong investor confidence and fresh profitability in the Saudi market, MedIQ’s strategic bet on AI positions it as one of the most ambitious players in Pakistan’s digital health ecosystem.
Its investment in AI also puts MedIQ ahead of the competition: where others like OlaDoc and Sehat Kahani are taking it slow and sticking to teleconsultations and appointment bookings, MedIQ is moving fast, expanding in other markets, achieving profitability, testing new bets and driving innovation. In short, MedIQ is behaving like an innovative tech-first startup.
AI in Pakistan’s healthcare
Artificial intelligence is moving beyond the stage of hype and beginning to establish itself as a practical force in Pakistan’s healthcare system. Hospitals are gradually adopting AI driven technologies while telehealth services continue to expand their reach. Patients are already noticing tangible improvements in areas such as faster diagnostics, smoother procedures and more responsive care. Still, the technology is not a cure all. The human connection, empathy and clinical judgment that define medical practice remain irreplaceable. Recent collaborations between private innovators and government health programmes highlight both the opportunities this shift can unlock and the caution that must guide its adoption.
In Pakistan’s urban hospitals and research centers, artificial intelligence has already begun to reshape the way diagnoses are made. Radiology departments that employ algorithms to scan X rays, CT images and MRIs are able to identify potential illnesses earlier than traditional methods allowed. This not only accelerates the diagnostic process but also eases the anxiety patients often feel while waiting for results.
The reach of AI expanded further during the COVID-19 pandemic, when telemedicine became a lifeline for many. Digital platforms equipped with AI powered chatbots and virtual triage systems provided guidance for patients who could not easily travel to major cities. These tools helped reduce delays, clarified referrals, and ensured more consistent follow up. Patients who used such services frequently reported greater satisfaction with their care, citing smoother access and clearer communication.
Evidence of this improvement has also been documented. A study published in the Journal of the Pakistan Medical Association concluded that AI and machine learning systems significantly reduced waiting times in large hospitals, which in turn strengthened patient trust. According to the findings, the simple act of shortening delays improved perceptions of quality and confidence in healthcare providers.
Professor Dr Asghar Naqi, principal of Allama Iqbal Medical College and Jinnah Hospital in Lahore has expressed cautious optimism about the role of artificial intelligence in healthcare. He notes that medical imaging supported by AI algorithms can analyze X rays, MRIs and CT scans to detect abnormalities such as tumors, fractures or cardiovascular problems with greater accuracy and efficiency than traditional methods. According to him, this ability allows for earlier diagnosis and treatment, potentially saving lives. At the same time, he warns that these systems cannot replace human judgement, since every algorithm is ultimately built on human experience and clinical insight.
In Karachi, Dr Saleem Sayani, Director of the Technology Innovation Support Centre at Aga Khan University, has described AI as a transformative force for healthcare delivery. He highlights that these tools do more than assist in diagnostics as they also help process large volumes of medical data, strengthen predictive analytics and make treatment plans more personalized. Yet Dr Sayani emphasizes that ethical, legal and social considerations are critical. Without strong regulations and oversight, he cautions the speed of adoption could outpace the safeguards needed to protect patients.
Dr Imtiaz Ahmed, a specialist in microbiology and genetics has also spoken about the promise of AI in areas where medical staff are scarce. He argues that AI enabled diagnostic centers could play an important role in meeting growing healthcare demands in underserved regions. However, he acknowledges that technology alone is not enough. Persistent gaps in infrastructure, weak regulation and patient concerns about data privacy remain serious challenges that must be addressed if AI is to deliver its full benefits.
MedIQ sees the opportunity here: AI is essential and inevitable. It has taken the first leap into this, making a significant investment into creating and deploying AI solutions for Pakistan’s healthcare. Though MedIQ is not the only one eyeing AI in healthcare. Pakistan’s healthcare sector has foreign interest from California-based MindHYVE.ai which has committed to invest $22.5 million in Pakistan.
MedIQ is ahead of the curve though, having made the investment already, testing and learning ahead of others.
MedIQ’s multi million dollar investment in AI
In most clinics and hospitals, the workflows are broken. Physicians spend a large portion of their time writing notes, updating electronic medical records and rewriting queries for insurers. Hospitals lose productivity. Patients lose quality time. Everyone pays more.
MedIQ’s AI platform addresses this with a simple mechanism: the moment a consultation starts, the system captures the entire conversation, converts it into a structured SOAP (Subjective, Objective, Assessment and Plan) note [SOAP is the standardized method of documenting patient care], generates the prescription, and files it into the medical record all before the doctor even stands up. No backlogs created and no putting in after-hours to complete documentation.
Over the last two years, MedIQ has spent millions of dollars developing and deploying this AI system. Dr Saira gave us a range of between $3-5 million spent on developing this system. The company had raised $6 million earlier in May this year.
The results according to MedIQ are striking: up to 60% reduction in consultation time, up to 60% increase in daily patient throughput, near-elimination of manual data-entry, all resulting in higher revenue per doctor.
Solving for hospitals and patients
For hospitals operating on thin margins, MedIQ’s AI model can transform their financial performance. Publicly available financials of Shifa International Hospitals show that the renowned healthcare facility ended the year 2025 at Rs27.9 billion revenue and Rs2.3 billion in net profit, translating into a net profit margin of 8%. 2024 was even lower than that with revenue at Rs23.5 billion and net profit at Rs1.36 billion, translating into a net profit margin of 5.7%. MedIQ’s pitch is that its AI model will have a financial impact, pushing the net margins up significantly.
To understand MedIQ’s pitch, say if Shifa healthcare had incorporated MedIQ’s AI into their operations in 2025, its doctors would have completed consultations in shorter durations resulting in a higher patient throughput in a day. How? Before consultation starts, doctors would have access to basic diagnosis already during preconsultation through AI. When the consultation starts, AI literally records the conversation, transcribing it in real time, creating notes for the doctor which he would otherwise have to write and type and even create a prescription. The doctor would only have to review for accuracy. By reducing or eliminating the time spent on partly clerical tasks, doctors can move on to the next patient quickly.
Theoretically, Shifa doctors could have given consultation to more than double the number of patients in a day. This would translate into more than double revenue for the hospital per year and about double or more net profit after subtracting the cost of MedIQ’s AI service.
The potential here is massive: there were over 1,700 public hospitals in Pakistan in 2022 according to Public Health Financing report published by the Government of Pakistan. There are anywhere between 500 to 724 private hospitals in the country. Collectively, these hospitals possibly treat millions of people each year for various diseases. For its AI business, MedIQ has a big addressable market, not penetrated by a significant AI player. Because it affects a critical sector and Pakistan has a huge healthcare problem, at scale, MedIQ’s AI would have a massive impact in terms of decreasing the burden on the healthcare system while maintaining quality healthcare.
On the patient side, the product claims to address two chronic inefficiencies: misreferrals and wasted consultations. A multilingual AI assistant available in Urdu, Punjabi, Pashto, and Arabic conducts a complete pre-consultation history even before the patient arrives. Symptoms such as chest pain are analyzed and triaged correctly. Does the patient need a cardiologist, a gastroenterologist or a general practitioner, the AI decides that after collecting the symptoms of the patient. It then makes a referral for the nearest and best doctor available for in person check up or suggests on the app for a teleconsultation.
By routing patients correctly, the system claims to eliminate unnecessary specialist visits and cuts down diagnostic delays saving patients money and reducing hospital congestion. For providers, it means patients arrive pre-documented, allowing doctors to move directly into clinical decision-making, even having the prescriptions written and ready.
Traditionally, once the patient leaves the room, the hospital’s engagement ends. MedIQ says it reversed that. A virtual assistant takes over post-consultation, clarifying the complex medical terminologies on the prescriptions. The increase in retention as a consequence improves a hospital’s or a clinic’s bottom line and gives better healthcare for patients. Hospitals and clinics focusing more on value-based care models especially benefit here.
This all works only if AI is highly reliable. How well trained is the AI and how good and reliable the data is. Dr Saira says that she has done her work thoroughly on this end, having trained the model in-house using their own repository of data of 4 million medical records for two years.
“The model was tested on 1 million patients before commercial launch. Once the accuracy was about 97%, then we launched it commercially,” Dr Saira says.
While Dr Saira didn’t disclose how unit economics exactly worked for her AI model, she said that the revenue potential was significantly higher than the cost associated with providing it.
