Protocol: From Pilots to Practice: A Scoping Review of Artificial Intelligence Adoption in the Healthcare Sector of the GCC Countries and Egypt

Abstract

Protocol (version 0.6, 17 October 2026) for a scoping review mapping the adoption of artificial intelligence across five healthcare sectors in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman and Egypt (2015–2026): hospitals and providers; pharmaceutical companies and manufacturers; pharmacies and distribution; government and regulators; and research and universities. The review follows JBI guidance and PRISMA-ScR. It searches PubMed, Europe PMC, OpenAlex, Crossref, DOAJ, Semantic Scholar, Arabic and regional sources and official websites. An independent, blinded large language model acts as second screener on a 20% sample, and contested records are adjudicated by an AI reviewer under the author's delegation. Synthesis covers descriptive mapping, NASSS-based barriers, pilot versus practice, an OECD/JRC-style readiness index, and use / pilot-with-caution / avoid recommendations. Registration statement: this protocol is registered retrospectively. Searching, screening, charting and a first synthesis were completed on 16–17 October 2026, before this deposit. A dated amendments log (v0.1–v0.6) is included. The document contains no results.