3 min read
For over a decade, “health-tech” in Pakistan meant one thing: video calls. Startups like OlaDoc and Sehat Kahani did the heavy lifting. They digitised appointments and connected patients to doctors remotely. However, within the hospitals, the “real” work remained manual, slow, and inefficient. That is finally changing as MedIQ jumps in with an impressive update.
In a move that signals a major shift for the local ecosystem, MedIQ has deployed a dedicated “Ambient Clinical Intelligence” system. This isn’t just a chatbot. It is a multi-million dollar infrastructure play designed to fix the broken economics of Pakistani healthcare.
But they aren’t the only ones watching this space.
MedIQ Solves the “Broken Workflow” Crisis
To understand the value here, look at a typical day for a doctor. Physicians in Pakistan spend a massive chunk of their time on clerical work. They write notes. They update Electronic Medical Records (EMR) and handle insurance queries.
This creates a bottleneck.
- Hospitals lose revenue because doctors see fewer patients.
- Patients suffer longer wait times.
- Doctors burn out from data entry.
MedIQ’s new AI engine tackles this head-on. The system listens to consultations in real-time. It transcribes the dialogue, handling local languages like Urdu, Pashto, and Punjabi, and automatically generates a structured SOAP note (Subjective, Objective, Assessment, Plan).
The result? A doctor can simply review the notes and move to the next patient.
The Economic Case Hypothesis
The financial implications are massive. Let’s look at the numbers. Shifa International Hospitals, a titan in the local sector, reported Rs. 27.9 billion in revenue for 2025, with a net profit of Rs. 2.3 billion (an 8% margin).
Here is the pitch:
MedIQ claims their AI reduces documentation time by 60%. Theoretically, this allows doctors to double their daily patient throughput. If a hospital like Shifa could even partially realise these gains, revenue would surge while fixed costs remain stable. The net profit wouldn’t just grow; it would multiply.
The $22.5M Challenger Facing MedIQ
MedIQ might have the “first-mover” advantage with a product trained on 4 million local records, but the market is getting crowded fast.
MindHYVE.ai, a US-based player, has committed a staggering $22.5 million to Pakistan’s AI sector.
Unlike legacy players, MindHYVE isn’t playing small. They have partnered effectively with the Government of Pakistan under the National AI Policy 2025 and are collaborating with the Prime Institute of Health Sciences (PIHS) to deploy their own “ChironAI” system.
While MedIQ is banking on its local “ground game” and current profitability in Saudi Arabia, MindHYVE is bringing massive capital and government backing.
The Legacy Incumbents: Adapt or Die?
This leaves existing giants like OlaDoc and Sehat Kahani in a tough spot.
- Sehat Kahani, in December 2023, raised $2.7 million (Series A) and has built an impressive all-female provider network.
- OlaDoc has been dominating the booking space since 2022.
However, booking apps are becoming commodities. As AI infrastructure becomes the new standard for hospital efficiency, these incumbents face a choice: build their own “deep tech” solutions or risk becoming outdated legacy software.
Pakistan’s startup ecosystem is maturing. We are moving away from “cash burn” models toward operational efficiency and profitability.
Whether MedIQ wins with its local data moat or MindHYVE takes over with its war chest, the winner is ultimately the Pakistani patient. The era of the “digital receptionist” is over. The era of the “AI Doctor” has almost begun.
