Digitising trust: building the backbone of Pakistan’s future health system—II

Building the framework: from fragmentation to a connected health ecosystem

Pakistan’s health digitisation journey cannot be solved overnight; it requires a phased transformation roadmap that balances urgency with structure. The foundation must be built deliberately: standards first, systems next, and then scaling.

Below is a framework of how Pakistan’s digital health evolution can and must unfold over time.

READ MORE: Digitising trust: building the backbone of Pakistan’s future health system—I

Phase 1: establishing the foundation (0–2 years)

Define the national standards, governance, and compliance infrastructure.

Before any software is written or a database is created, Pakistan needs to lay down the rules of the game.

Key actions:

• A national digital health policy should be created that defines interoperability as a legal and operational mandate.

• Adopt HL7/FHIR standards as the baseline for all EHR, lab, and pharmacy systems, public or private.

• Establish a Health Information Exchange (HIE) Authority for certification, compliance, and sandbox testing.

• Implement patient data protection legislation modeled on the GDPR and HIPAA.

• Launch pilot programmes in selected hospitals to demonstrate real-world interoperability.

The purpose is to create trust, rules, and proof, without which no sustainable digitisation can occur.

Phase 2: integration and interoperability (2–5 years)

Connect data sources and standardize workflows.

Actions:

• Link hospitals, laboratories, pharmacies, and insurers to the HIE through standardized APIs.

• Migrate legacy systems into structured HL7/FHIR-compliant data formats.

• Building regional data hubs that bridge provincial departments and private facilities is recommended.

• Introduce unique patient identifiers (UPI) for every citizen, leveraging Pakistan’s recent “One Patient One ID” initiative.

• Training and capacity building for IT administrators, clinicians, and policymakers should be conducted.

Outcomes: real-time data exchange, unified patient histories, and data-driven decision-making.

Phase 3: intelligence and scalability (5–10 years)

Transform data into insights and scale them nationwide.

Focus areas:

• Develop national analytics dashboards for disease surveillance and policy-making.

• Incorporate AI-powered modules for diagnostics and population health prediction.

• Enabling citizens to access their health data via mobile-first public platforms.

• Align internationally with the WHO Digital Health Atlas and regional HIE frameworks.

• Regulations should be continuously updated as technology evolves.

At this stage, Pakistan’s health-data ecosystem would not only serve hospitals but also power national resilience by predicting epidemics, optimizing resources, and enabling equitable access to care.

Why a timeline matters

Without a structured timeline, digitization efforts risk becoming reactionary and disjointed, the same trap the current system fell into. A defined roadmap creates accountability across all stakeholders, including the government, private sector, and innovators.

Each phase builds on the previous one.

• Policy before product.

• Connectivity before analytics.

• Ethics before intelligence.

Only by sequencing the journey can Pakistan move from data chaos to data confidence — from health systems that record illness to systems that prevent it.

Working together for change: how telecoms and private innovators can shape Pakistan’s digital health future

No one organization can handle digitising an entire country’s health system by itself. Transitioning from paper to a more integrated system requires a united front of innovators — government agencies creating the policy framework, healthcare providers contributing data, and private companies supplying the digital infrastructure. And amongst them, telecom operators are in a unique position to spearhead this shift.

1. A nationwide digital framework

Thanks to their extensive reach, data capabilities, and connections in the fintech world, telecom companies are well-suited to facilitate digital health connectivity across the nation. Their networks already touch millions of people every day, making them the perfect foundation for a secure, cloud-based health information network that links hospitals, clinics, labs, pharmacies, and patients throughout the country.

Telecoms can:

• Enable secure cloud-based data exchanges using their existing reliable network infrastructure, acting as the backbone for a future national Health Information Exchange (HIE).

• Utilize mobile identity and fintech credentials to create unique patient identifiers (UPI), ensuring that each citizen’s health record is traceable, secure, and verified.

• Link payments, insurance claims, and healthcare transactions into one seamless digital process — merging financialinclusion with access to healthcare.

Essentially, telecoms already have the infrastructure needed for a national digital health ecosystem to thrive.

2. HealthTech as a shared resource

A clear example of this synergy is ApnaClinic, a digital health platform launched by a leading telecom in Pakistan. It’s a new take on healthcare ecosystems that integrates connectivity, care, and financial access into a single digital experience.

ApnaClinic combines teleconsultations, lab services, pharmacies, and even surgery bookings all in one place — easily accessible via mobile. More importantly, it seeks to shift the focus from owning data to sharing data. By adopting HL7/FHIR compliance and interoperable APIs, it shows how private innovation can meet global health data standards while still staying commercially viable.

These initiatives highlight how telecom-led ecosystems can act as public digital resources — systems that not only enhance accessibility and affordability for people but also strengthen the national data framework for policymakers and researchers.

3. Connecting fintech and HealthTech

In Pakistan, where a significant portion of healthcare spending (over 60 percent) comes out of pocket, telecom-driven fintech divisions can play a crucial role in making healthcare more affordable.

By merging financial services with health platforms, telecoms can:

• Provide micro-insurance and health-linked credit options, allowing families to pay for consultations, lab tests, or procedures over time.

• Automate claims and reimbursements through APIs connected to the HIE, ensuring quick settlements.

• Utilize data-driven subsidies and welfare targeting, where aggregated digital health data can identify communities in need.

This blending of financial and clinical interoperability could fundamentally change how accessible healthcare is — transforming inclusion from a lofty goal into a tangible reality.

4. Collaborating for a connected future

For this transformation to gain traction, telecoms need to work closely with the public sector, HealthTech startups, and development partners. Their involvement goes beyond providing connectivity — they also need to engage in policy advocacy, testing interoperability, and ensuring ethical data use.

Some key contributions could include:

• Leading national interoperability pilots, highlighting how telecoms’ digital infrastructure can securely enable data sharing among multiple providers.

• Creating open data testing environments where startups can experiment with HL7/FHIR-compliant integrations.

• Co-developing frameworks for patient privacy, data anonymisation, and responsible AI use in healthcare.

By doing this, telecoms can drive forward a public-private partnership for digital health, aligning commercial innovation with national health objectives — making sure that technology serves not just customers but all citizens.

A vision forward

The story of healthcare digitization in Pakistan is not just about technology; it is about connectivity, collaboration, and courage. If the past decade was about digital banking and e-commerce, the next must be about digital care, where every Pakistani has a longitudinal health record, every hospital can exchange data in real time, and every policymaker can act on live insights, not outdated paper reports.

If executed with intent and inclusion, Telcom operators have the potential to become the backbone of this transformation, turning Pakistan’s fragmented health system into a connected, intelligent, and equitable ecosystem that truly protects the communities it serves.

Conclusion

Pakistan is at a pivotal moment. The transformation from paper to platform is not just a technological shift; it is an equity imperative. Without interoperability, digitized systems risk becoming another layer of fragmentation rather than a force for integration.

It’s time for the country to ask not only “Are we collecting data?” but “Are we exchanging it, using it, learning from it?”

The answers to these questions will determine whether Pakistan’s healthcare system remains anchored in the past or it undergoes reforms in the future.

The roadmap is clear: establish standards, connect systems, and scale intelligence.

The actors are in their place. The technology exists. What remains is the collective will of policymakers, innovators, and citizens to embrace interoperability as not just an option but a necessity.

(Concluded)

Copyright Business Recorder, 2026