OBJECTIVES: Dubai Health Authority (DHA) supports establishment of telehealth infrastructure with the aim of improvement of technological and innovative advances in medicine to enable low-cost accessible healthcare solutions in the Emirate of Dubai. The objective of the analysis was to characterize telehealth utilization and identify gaps in care.

METHODS: A retrospective analysis was conducted using insurance e-claims (Dubai Private Insurance) database between January 2019 to October 2022. All telehealth services claims were identified to describe the trends in telehealth services and relative distribution by clinical condition as indicated by ICD-10 codes and specialty. Pulse survey among patients was also conducted.

RESULTS: There was a rise in telehealth utilization in 2020 across the emirate peaking in May, it started to taper downward in July 2020 and stabilized in 2021 before showing an upward trend again in 2022. Nonelderly adults were most likely to utilize telehealth services, while only 6.7% elderly utilized telehealth during the study timeframe. Circulatory system, infectious diseases, endocrine nutritional and metabolic disorders were among the most common diagnostic categories for telehealth services accounting for 43.8% of patients utilizing telehealth. Family medicine, internal medicine and pediatrics were among the commonest specialty accounting for 63.7% of overall claims. Pulse survey indicated acceptance of telehealth services as an alternative health care delivery service.

CONCLUSIONS: The claims analysis during the study period shows an increase in telehealth use. This dynamic reporting enables us to identify trends in uptake of digital technology particularly beneficial in high-needs group of patients and monitor services as per the standards for provision of telehealth services in the emirate.