Spain Accelerates Healthcare Innovation with Digital Health Plan and AI Training for Professionals
Spain unveils a €336 million digital health plan in Madrid and launches AI training courses for healthcare professionals to modernize healthcare services.
- • Madrid's Strategic Digital Health Plan 2026-28 involves a €336 million investment over three years.
- • The plan includes a Unified Clinical History system and a supercharged Virtual Health Card with remote monitoring.
- • Gregorio Marañón Hospital technology improvements raised surgical performance by 5% and reduced hospital stays.
- • The Health Service will offer an AI course to healthcare professionals to enhance AI skills.
Key details
Spain is making significant strides in integrating artificial intelligence (AI) and digital technologies into its healthcare system in 2026. Two major initiatives highlight this progress: the Madrid regional government's Strategic Digital Health Plan 2026-28, and a new AI course for healthcare professionals offered by the Health Service.
On February 19, 2026, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, President of the Community of Madrid, unveiled the Strategic Digital Health Plan which allocates 336 million euros over three years to enhance the region's healthcare system through digital innovation. The plan emphasizes improving patient accessibility, supporting healthcare providers, fostering innovation, and ensuring integrated care. Among its key features are the development of a Unified Clinical History accessible in real-time, predictive models for disease management, centralized diagnostic imaging, and a supercharged Virtual Health Card app with remote monitoring capabilities. In 2025, this Virtual Health Card already served more than 3.5 million users with 58 million accesses.
Additionally, the Gregorio Marañón Hospital has implemented advanced technology that improved surgical performance by over 5%, reduced average hospital stays by 0.5 days, and expedited social work evaluations for more than 60% of patients.
Complementing these advances, Spain’s Health Service announced the launch of a specialized AI course for healthcare professionals. This educational initiative aims to equip medical staff with necessary AI skills to better leverage these technologies, reflecting a broader governmental commitment to integrating AI in health services to boost efficiency and patient care.
Together, these efforts illustrate Spain’s proactive approach to addressing increasing healthcare demands due to longer life expectancies by harnessing the power of digitalization and AI.
This article was translated and synthesized from Spanish sources, providing English-speaking readers with local perspectives.
