Supported by a robust National Health Insurance (NHI) program covering 99.9% of its 23 million citizens, Taiwan's healthcare system is globally recognized as one of the most advanced. With an annual budget of approximately USD 28 billion (3.5% of GDP), the NHI ensures universal access to affordable, high-quality care. For example, emergency rooms are mandated by law to admit all patients, including walk-ins.

These benefits, however, depend on sufficient human resources and financial support—both of which are now more challenging than ever.


Complications

Taiwan officially entered an age of ‘super‑aged’ society in 2025, a status to which its high‑quality, advanced healthcare system has contributed. Life expectancy at birth has increased to 84/78 years old (Woman/Man) in 2025. Meanwhile, with the lowest birth rate around the world, Taiwan’s labor force is declining at a pace that is far from the society’s best interests.

So far, the healthcare system is absorbing these impacts. But as society ages, demand for healthcare will continue to grow in the coming decades; at the same time, the short supply of human resources puts greater pressure on people in the field. In 2025, Taiwan’s nurse‑to‑patient ratio was above 1:10, compared to the suggested 1:6 in Europe.

Uneven resource allocation makes matters worse. Strong bargaining power keeps most healthcare professionals in major cities, leaving rural areas with even fewer services, although they are usually the most affected regions in a super‑aged society.


Investment to Address the Issues

The Taiwanese authorities understand these issues. Since the early 2020s, they have gradually focused solutions on three dimensions:

  • AI supported medical services
  • Telehealth
  • Home-based healthcare

A Healthy Taiwan Cultivation Plan announced in mid‑2025 reinforces these priorities, claiming an investment of USD 1.5 billion in the next 5 years (2026‑2030) across four key areas:

  • Improving working conditions for medical personnel
  • Cultivating diverse talent
  • Integrating smart medical technology
  • Promoting socially responsible sustainable medicine

The plan invites hospitals and industry to compete for budget through a bottom‑up mechanism and interprets the key areas broadly: introducing new technologies to reduce workloads qualifies as improving working conditions, and routing patients to the appropriate level of care is part of socially responsible medicine.

So where will hospitals turn their focus?


How AI Plays its Role

Most of Taiwan’s major hospitals have made substantial investments in GenAI applications since its boom in 2022.

A common use case is a virtual assistant for medical note‑writing—generating new notes or producing quick summaries of investigation results. This aims to reduce clinicians’ administrative workload and return time to patient care.

Another frequently observed approach leverages Taiwan’s industrial advantage as a major manufacturer of ICT equipment for the world.

Quanta Computer, the leading manufacturer of AI servers, announced its QOCA AI medical system in 2024 and has successfully implemented its telehealth system into TCVGH, the biggest medical centre in central Taiwan. ASUS, the top 5 laptop brand in the globe, has recently announced its Maestro system, which aims to build a ‘central brain’ to connect and command AI applications used in hospitals.


Highlighting Home and Long-term Care

The Cultivation Plan would not just benefit AI applications. Beyond hospitals, Taiwan is placing significant focus on home health care, though it is still a new field domestically. Policy on how Taiwan will promote it was released in mid‑2025 by the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC).

The policy emphasizes innovation in home‑care technologies, assistance for their penetration, and strengthening the primary medical service network that supports home care. NSTC has announced a USD 30 million experimental budget for 2026 targeting rural areas as the touchstone for the whole policy.

Compared to home care, long‑term care has a longer history in Taiwan. Along with the announcement of the Healthy Taiwan Cultivation Plan, Ministry of Health Welfare (MOHW) also introduced the newest 3.0 version of the government’s Long‑term Care Plan. This new version will place more emphasis on the service quality of long‑term care

facilities and guide them to implement more assisting technology, including, but not limited to, technology that can help physical training, bath supporting, toilet supporting, and mobility supporting.


Challenges and Hidden Gaps

Even with substantial effort, challenges remain, and many of them are self‑imposed.

Most AI‑based applications still focus on improving the ‘internal’ process, largely due to a significant ‘privacy barrier.’ To protect patients’ privacy, both regulations and hospitals’ self‑owned disciplines are strict about the use of hospital‑owned digital data. Any ‘external’‑facing application would, to some extent, touch patients’ personal data, and hospitals are not sure how far they can go in the absence of clear guidance.

Cybersecurity will become increasingly important as cloud services become more widespread, especially for hospitals lacking the budget for their own edge computing services.

Of course, the long‑term issues of digital transformation also remain: different levels of digitalization between organizations and different data formats between systems, hospitals, or alliances all slow down the transformation.


Preparation for the Cooperation

In response to the growing demand for AI applications in hospitals, MOHW has introduced an innovative structure by setting up three ‘National AI Centers’:

  • Center for Responsible AI in Healthcare: responsible for defining the boundary and framework for application development “…dedicated to developing governance frameworks that reflect seven core ethical principles—ensuring that safety and ethical considerations evolve in step” ---MOHW
  • Center for External AI Validation in Healthcare: forms a federal alliance to validate new AI applications “…five leading medical centers across the country were selected and awarded government funding to establish dedicated facilities for external validation of clinical AI models” ---MOHW
  • Center for Clinical AI Impact Evaluation: acts as an institute helping to review the impacts of new applications “…convenes experts in clinical trials, biostatistics, epidemiology, health

informatics, and health economics to ensure rigorous evaluation and actionable evidence that can support health policy and implementation” ---MOHW

An ‘International Partner Matching Platform’ was set on the same basis to support international organizations or innovators in identifying and connecting with appropriate partners in Taiwan.


Swedish Opportunities

Several opportunities offer strong entry points for Swedish companies:

  • Working flow within the hospitals is always a painful issue for Taiwan’s hospitals, and Swedish solutions have a good track record in this respect
  • Swedish innovative MedTech solutions can be a good fit for Taiwan’s current challenges, with domestic supply limited by culture and regulation
  • For home care, a market currently well-positioned for entry, Swedish companies offer a wide range of innovative services; the same applies to telehealth, as Taiwan has just initiated development efforts in these areas
  • Every above application will also increase the demand for cybersecurity services, and given the fact that Taiwan has strict regulations on medical data, it pushes the market to seek more trusted services providers
  • Taiwan’s authorities have paved a good entry path for international players seeking to obtain the required certifications, with the AI Validation Centre being a unique setting which can also open the door for other markets (some successful case used the certificate in Taiwan to open the door in SEA)

Business Sweden Taipei has partnered with many Swedish companies to enter the market for decades. We have not only a broad understanding of the general market and this specific healthcare sector, but also strong connections to most key stakeholders—including, but not limited to, the major medical centres, government authorities, and the local industry.

Our team are more than happy to assist you and your company to ensure an effortless and successful market entry to Taiwan.