![](https://hitconsultant.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Avi-Tsur-Headshot.jpg)
![](https://hitconsultant.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Dr.-Eyal-Zimlichman-Headshot-1500x2262.jpg)
Since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas, the relentless demands of wartime have pushed local medical teams to adapt and integrate new technologies at an unprecedented pace.
We, leaders of Israel's largest medical center, faced a brutal triple attack: a daily influx of wounded civilians and soldiers, a depleted workforce due to medical personnel being called up for military service, and the imminent danger of moving the entire medical center to missile shelter.
Faced with more patients and fewer staff, our response was to unleash the power of AI and automation, paving the way for processing more with less.
When we were forced to move our patients to a missile-proof shelter, we leveraged our cutting-edge technologies to transition from in-person treatment to remote care. While receiving their treatment at home, patients were able to use their own shelter, while remaining with their families during stressful times.
This period has taught us valuable lessons in crisis management and the value of strategic adoption of health technology. Like COVID-19, many of the technological advances made as a result of this war will now be valuable additions to our health care toolbox in the long term.
There will inevitably be further conflicts and pandemics in Israel and around the world, with hospitals on the front lines caring for all those affected. We would like to share some of the considerations we have taken to integrate health technologies to meet the new challenges that war imposes on us.
We chose to focus on two examples from very different clinical disciplines: expanding rehabilitation services and providing real-time remote care to high-risk pregnant patients from the comfort and safety of their homes.
Organic and open innovation
To ensure our success, we first had to determine the right approach. When it comes to hospital innovation, there are two general approaches. Biological innovation includes technologies that hospitals develop internally, based on the needs that doctors recognize in their specialty. While Open innovation involves hospitals integrating technologies developed by external parties.
Both methodologies offer significant advantages. In the last year alone, we have seen successful biological innovation with 15 promising companies developed at our hospital to address critical unmet needs. However, this process takes time and when managing a crisis, open innovation can often provide solutions that are faster, broader and better suited to the market.
When evaluating open innovation opportunities, it is crucial to consider the bigger picture beyond the immediate need. Hospitals must identify the most appropriate technologies, evaluate the product's current operational status and potential future development, while anticipating and resolving any implementation challenges in advance.
Rehabilitation – Addressing Scale Issues
Following October 7th attacks, thousands of people were rushed to Israeli hospitals for emergency treatment. Subsequently, with a military operation looming on the horizon, the Israeli healthcare system faced the daunting prospect of treating even more patients with serious and complex injuries, further straining our limited resources and required thinking outside the box. the challenge.
Sheba's CEO, Professor Yitshak Kreiss, immediately anticipated one of the greatest missions and challenges our hospital has ever faced: expanding our rehabilitation services.
Rehabilitation is a labor-intensive field, requiring a large multidisciplinary team of occupational therapists, physical therapists, and speech therapists often working with patients one-on-one. We have turned to technology and innovation to support our rehabilitation care programs.
To ensure we made these right choices, we formed a multidisciplinary committee, including seasoned innovation and technology leaders from the hospital and members of the clinical rehabilitation teams led by Professor Gabriel Zeilig, Head of Innovation at the Sheba rehabilitation department. This committee participated in decisions throughout the identification and selection process, evaluating, critiquing and analyzing possible solutions, ensuring that all technologies would complement and optimize the performance of the clinical team.
Our experience has demonstrated that integrating AI/machine learning technologies into remote care solutions significantly improves the efficiency of patient treatment. AI-based tools have been instrumental in guiding patients through essential and repetitive tasks, be it physical or mental exercises, which play a crucial role in their rehabilitation and recovery process. This integration aims to extend our care to a greater number of patients over longer periods of time without the need to expand our clinical team. Additionally, these AI tools prove invaluable in ensuring continuity of care even after patients are discharged, allowing them to continue their recovery process at home. We hope that the most effective use of these tools will occur when patients begin using them under our supervision at Sheba.
In addition to AI-based solutions, we also recognize the importance of remote care technologies that do not rely on automation or AI. These technologies are crucial for two main reasons: they improve logistical operations within the hospital through in-hospital telemedicine, and they ensure seamless continuity of care for patients transitioning from hospital to home care.
Redefining prenatal treatment
Even amid the turmoil of war, the reality of pregnant women and newborns persists. For women facing high-risk pregnancies, intensive monitoring of the mother and fetus is usually carried out in a hospital setting, from diagnosis to birth.
The grim prospect of moving many of our hospital beds to missile shelters necessitated the difficult decision to reduce our high-risk antepartum unit from 39 beds to just 15, in anticipation of possible evacuation of patients to a bomb shelter. Additionally, as alarms sounded, schools and daycares closed, and stress levels increased, our patients overwhelmingly preferred to stay home with their families and children.
In response, we have enhanced our existing comprehensive virtual pregnancy service to meet the demand for comprehensive and intense remote care, effectively replacing antepartum hospital stays. We used technologies such as secure, HIPAA-compliant video chats for continuous communication between pregnant patients and their doctors, as well as medical-grade remote fetal monitoring and remote ultrasound for real-time remote monitoring.
Continuous, 24/7 communication with the hospital reassured our patients, providing them with a sense of security even while receiving care remotely. This transition to remote prenatal care has not only overcome logistical hurdles, but also led to a better patient journey, which is crucial during these challenging times.
HealthTech innovation in times of crisis
The Chinese word for crisis includes two Chinese characters meaning “danger” and “inflection point.” The recent war has not only highlighted the vital role that innovation plays in crisis management, but also the role of crisis in driving innovation.
Medical centers around the world are facing an aging population, rising costs and shrinking workforces. These problems are common in calm times and worsen during times of crisis. Our experiences show how these challenges can be overcome, in part by leveraging remote and automated technologies. However, these technologies should not be limited to wartime interventions and must continue to be used in normal times to form part of the standard of care.
When faced with a crisis, there is a natural tendency to cling to routine. However, we cannot let this approach define our attitude towards innovation.
Rather than resisting change, we must embrace technology to improve our ability to respond quickly and effectively. Our experience shows the benefits of leveraging open innovation to enable remote and automated care and can serve as a model for other hospitals facing crises in the future.
About Professor Eyal Zimlichman, MD
Professor Eyal Zimlichman, MD, is Director of Transformation and Innovation at Sheba Medical Centeris the director and founder of ARC Innovation and co-founder of Future of Health (FOH).
About Dr. Avi Tsur, MD
Dr. Avi Tsur, MD, is Deputy Director of Business Transformation Sheba Medical Center, Director of OBGYN at Sheba Beyond and Director of the Sheba Women's Health Innovation Center. Dr. Tsur is also co-founder and chief medical officer of Shela, an ARC company advancing maternal-fetal precision medicine.