Alma Health, telehealth startup, expands to Dubai 

Alma Health, a fully verticalised, digital healthcare provider, created to revolutionise the healthcare provider market by transforming the lives of individuals living with chronic conditions, has launched in Dubai after witnessing a successful and rapid growth journey in Abu Dhabi and Cairo. 

Funded by global and regional venture capital firms, Alma Health aims to become a leading digital healthcare provider for chronic condition management by harnessing technology to transform lives. The innovative health tech company simplifies the lengthy process of managing chronic conditions, such as diabetes, hypertension and cholesterol, enabling them to live a stress-free life. Alma Health is fully licensed as a healthcare provider by the Departments of Health in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and by the Ministry of Health in Egypt. The licensed provider owns and operates its own virtual clinics, where it carefully vets the physicians and hires the best to offer chronic condition management and care via its in-house developed technology. Alma Health also owns and operates a network of cloud pharmacies specifically designed for the fulfilment and delivery of chronic care medication.

Alma Health was established amidst the global pandemic by co-founders Khaldoon Bushnaq, the former Head of Strategy and Business Performance at Careem, and Tariq Seksek, who held former product leadership roles at Dubizzle and OLX. The company was conceptualised as a result of a condition that Bushnaq lives with, where chronic back pain led him to attend a multitude of doctor appointments, and frequent lab tests, prior to receiving his prescription. From this experience, Bushnaq understood the process of getting to the final stage and attaining suitable prescription medication was unnecessarily time-consuming and inefficient, and thus could be better streamlined into a more comfortable, hassle-free approach. With a unique vision, Khaldoon joined forces with Tariq to launch Alma Health with the aim of simplifying the lives of millions of people. 

Alma Health comes in as a key solution to the millions of people living with chronic conditions, offering individuals virtual medical consultations directly via the application with one of the company’s licensed, in-house general practitioner doctors and convenient lab tests which can be done in the comfort of one's home. From there, users are able to obtain prescriptions on a renewal basis, fully covered by the user’s health insurance, without stepping foot in a clinic or hospital, and are provided same-day delivery of their prescription medication at no added cost. Individuals can also benefit from a second opinion on their chronic condition as well as a customized management plan. 

Further streamlining the experience, Alma Health also offers direct insurance billing with preferred insurance partners, including Daman Enhanced and Thiqa, Oman Insurance, NAS, Neuron, Enaya, Al Madallah and ADNIC, as well as ongoing support, medication reminders and automatic prescription renewals. Additionally, the company keeps track of users' history and previous prescriptions, all of which are 100% secure with the use of a 256 – bit data encryption alongside being HIPAA compliant. 

Khaldoon comments, “Alma Health aims to create a world in which your chronic condition does not complicate your life. A world in which hours are not wasted in waiting rooms, and you never have to face the surprise of an unexpected medical bill. A world in which managing your health is as easy as a click of a few buttons.” 

Alma Health strives to become the leading digital healthcare provider in the region, competing with brick-and-mortar clinics and hospitals specialized in chronic care. With a successful growth journey in Abu Dhabi and current expansion into the UAE and Egypt, the company has plans to scale operations to adjacent markets with further funding in the pipeline.