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Uruguay Healthcare IT

Uruguay’s telecommunication industry has coverage throughout the country and has one of the highest internet penetration rates in Latin America (88%).  With this digital infrastructure in place, Uruguay recently passed laws to govern and promote the use of telemedicine and e-health services.  

The new government of Uruguay, in place as of March 2020, stated that telemedicine, e-health and related wellness technologies are now a national priority. The new government passed a law (Law No.19.869) to regulate and promote telemedicine and related services.  The government has ninety days to define protocols for each of the services to be provided under the new telemedicine law.  There are three entities involved in defining these regulations: The Information System Management Agency (AGESIC), The Office of the Presidency and the Ministry of Public Health (MPH).

The law covers the exchange of information through IT solutions to manage medical diagnoses, treatments, sickness prevention, research and evaluation, and the education of healthcare professionals.  The law covers the regulation of information exchange and medical consultations with professionals who are residents in foreign countries. 

Commercial opportunities

For the years 2020-2025, opportunities for US firms include: 

  • Consultancy services to manage national level telemedicine programs.
  • Development of  a national health portal where citizens can access to their digital health information.
  • Development of  electronic patient journals (EPJs) at a national level.
  • Development of services for remote patient monitoring, systems for integrating local, regional, and national healthcare information networks.
  • Development of e-prescription systems
  • Providing equipment such as computers and routers, to develop telemedicine in the country. 


Some considerations for this opportunity include: local language requirements, data privacy and protection concerns, standardization and interoperability concerns. Uruguay also has a highly developed software and application development cluster, which enables to develop competitive local IT solutions. 

For further information, pleas contact CS Uruguay: Office.Montevideo@trade.gov