Ireland is one of the world’s most active electronic health record (EHR) and digital health growth markets, according to a new market research report.
Based on a survey of 200 Irish healthcare IT, clinical, procurement, cybersecurity and digital transformation decision makers conducted by Black Book Market Research, the report finds that Ireland is moving beyond isolated digitisation projects into a national, evidence-driven technology buying cycle, anchored by the One Health Record programme.
The Ireland Digital Health Competitive Intelligence Report: Outlook 2026-2027 predicts that the One Health Record project will stimulate investment well beyond the core EHR.
High-activity segments will include shared care infrastructure, GP and community care connectivity, patient access, AI-assisted clinical documentation, remote monitoring, diagnostics optimisation, cybersecurity and implementation services.
“Ireland has moved into the front ranks of global EHR growth markets,” said Doug Brown, Founder of Black Book Market Research.
“This is not simply a competition for one national platform. Ireland is building a connected digital health environment that must operate across hospitals, general practices, community services, private providers, diagnostics, patients and national data infrastructure.”
The report cautions that vendors competing in Ireland will need to provide procurement-ready evidence rather than generalised transformation claims.
Among respondents, 84 per cent of decision-makers said they would require quantified operational or workflow evidence before approving digital health investments.
A similar proportion (85 per cent) predicted that shared care interoperability will be mandatory or heavily weighted going forward.
Priority requirements will include Ireland-scale implementation and migration plans, GP and community-care integration, FHIR and HL7 conformance, GDPR and European Health Data Space alignment, accountable AI controls, cyber-recovery evidence, five-year total cost-of-ownership models, and measurable post-implementation outcomes.
Black Book expects the strongest commercial opportunities to go to vendors capable of integrating into Ireland’s national architecture while demonstrating responsible innovation, cyber resilience, implementation capacity and documented workflow returns.
“Ireland’s market is highly active, but it will be demanding,” Mr Brown said.
“Global recognition or a broad technology portfolio will not substitute for Ireland-specific execution. Buyers increasingly expect vendors to prove how their solutions will reduce clinical burden, improve information exchange, protect patient data and produce measurable operating value.”
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