As Saudi Arabia accelerates its healthcare transformation under Vision 2030, the nation faces a growing burden of chronic diseases, particularly diabetes, alongside rising healthcare costs, expanded insurance adoption, and increased privatization. The Saudi Ministry of Health projects that by 2030, over 8.4 million individuals may be living with diabetes placing significant pressure on healthcare infrastructure, families, and providers. To meet these challenges, there is an urgent need to reimagine care delivery models that are scalable, patient-centered, and rooted in prevention and home-based support.

In this evolving context, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Home as a Health Care Hub initiative, facilitated by global design firm HKS, offers a timely and transferable model. The initiative reimagines the home as an integrated system of care by aligning medical, digital, and physical infrastructure to better support health and chronic disease management. Through deep stakeholder engagement and evidence-based research, the project focuses specifically on diabetes to uncover real-world needs and opportunities.

At the heart of this work is the Idea Lab, a platform that synthesizes clinical, technological, and spatial insights. It includes tools for empathy-building, system mapping, and the Lilypad™ Virtual Reality experience, which helps engineers, designers, and healthcare providers understand the lived experience of people managing diabetes at home.

The U.S. experience demonstrates how cross-disciplinary collaboration—between healthcare designers, providers, engineers, and technologists—can deliver more cohesive, patient-centered care environments. As Saudi Arabia embraces digital health, home-based care, and private sector innovation, this model offers a scalable blueprint for designing systems that meet the complex demands of tomorrow’s healthcare landscape.