Dubai Health Authority’s Health Tourism Council wants to make Dubai the leading second medical opinion destination in the Gulf. Medical tourists will be encouraged to get their second medical opinion from a Dubai consultant, and then travel to Dubai for treatment and care. The main targets for the service will be Gulf residents.
The reasons people look for a second opinion are many and varied, including confirmation of a diagnosis, help in making choices about treatment, concern that a condition is not improving or doubts about information or recommendations from their existing consultant.
An increasing number of health insurers already offer a second opinion service that either uses their own national/global network, or a specialist second opinion service.
A centralised call centre will be created in Dubai, through which health insurers can connect their customers to assessed and monitored accredited health facilities and medical specialists in the country.
While a second opinion consultation is a one-time encounter between a specialist and a patient, global insurers are moving to widen 24/7 healthcare services using the latest Artificial Intelligence, video technology and apps.
A second opinion service will not directly increase medical travel to a destination. The majority of second opinion services offered by specialists to customers and insured patients, or by insurers, no longer need the patient to physically visit them as it is all done real-time, remotely, by video consultation.