The Jerusalem Post - The Jerusalem Post Magazine
SHEBA MEDICAL CENTER’S INTERNATIONAL SUMMIT
A blueprint for the hospital of the future lures world’s most influential hospital executives
As technology forges ahead at a dizzying pace, hospital and health-care system executives from North America and the EU are working overtime to integrate cutting-edge digital health innovations into their medical playbook so they can offer a continuum of first-class care while streamlining costs in the paperless, big-data era.
The challenge to start injecting these concepts today into the hospitals of the future spurred the first-ever Sheba Medical Center International Summit: The Future Hospital-Setting Strategies for 2030, where some of the world’s most renowned hospital and health-care system CEOs came to Ramat Gan this week in order to create a cogent strategy for their facilities.
The summit underscores an important contribution to the fulfillment of Sheba Medical Center’s mission statement, which includes promoting the next generation of medical leadership and major medical scientific research. In the context of Sheba’s forward-looking approach, an Innovation Center is currently being developed on the grounds of the Sheba Medical Center to facilitate collaboration between researchers from Sheba, academia and industry. Some of the start-ups which have recently joined the fledgling Innovation Center are already creating innovative technological solutions that are altering the way hospitals provide health care and save lives.
Charles N. Kahn III, president and CEO of the Federation of American Hospitals, which represents more than 1,000 investor-owned or managed community hospitals and health systems throughout the US, said, ”We are at a critical point in health care where technology and scientific advancement, as well as increased understanding of patient care, is enabling us to diagnose and treat effectively outside the hospital in ways never imagined before. The academic health center with high-quality care and groundbreaking research needs to adapt to this changing care environment.”
He added, “In a first-of-its-kind international meeting, the Sheba Medical Center brought together top leaders and minds from across the world to confront the implications of these challenges for their vital institutions. Sheba Medical Center is not just the largest hospital in the Middle East, it is a vibrant worldclass center for care and innovation at the forefront of medical science and care delivery. We explored how to keep hospitals a step ahead of the change. The goals are to assure patients get the care they need in the setting best suited and make sure the other critical missions of the hospitals can be sustained.”
A forum such as the Sheba International Summit enabled some of America’s most forward-thinking hospital and health-care executives to speak about how they are already transforming health care, yet relish the idea of constantly sharing and exploring new ideas.
Said Dr. Daniel Kraft, Faculty Chair for Medicine & Neuroscience and Chair of Exponential Medicine at Singularity University, “It’s incredible and exciting for me to see my colleagues come to Israel and Sheba, which is fertile ground for them to discover what
is going on here. Technology is converging in many areas, like genomics, Artificial Intelligence, IoT (Internet of things) and VR (Virtual Reality). The challenge is to how to use these technologies to promote top medical care via clinical trials etc. And Sheba is already doing clinical trials with these technologies.”
Ralph W. Muller, CEO University of Pennsylvania Health System, claimed, “At Penn Medicine in Philadelphia, we’re focused on fostering innovation across every area of our work, from developing cutting-edge therapies to improving the patient experience to transforming the way we use electronic health records. All these elements come together to improve outcomes as well as to drive greater value as we, like all systems, face rising costs. We can all learn from each other no matter where we practice medicine. The Sheba Summit was the perfect forum to speak about our innovation efforts and learn from other leaders who are mapping the future of health care with their own great ideas.”
David Entwistle, president and CEO, Stanford Health Care, stated, “The world around us is changing. The rise of digital health, value-based care models and heightened consumer expectations are challenging the status quo for hospitals. How we, as health leaders, engage with these developments will have repercussions for years to come. That is why forums like the Sheba Summit on the Hospital of the Future are so valuable. They provide a rare opportunity for health leaders to connect and share ideas.”
Dr. Paul B. Rothman, the dean of Medical Faculty and CEO of Johns Hopkins Medicine, reiterated the need to train today’s doctors and medical professionals for tomorrow’s challenges today.
“Health care is evolving rapidly and academic medical centers such as ours and Sheba must respond by transforming how we educate the next generation of medical practitioners. We must incorporate new models and methods to ensure that we continue to provide the highest level of care to our patients.”
Prof. Mordechai Shani, Director General Emeritus of Sheba Medical Center, who has played a vital role in the development of advanced healthcare in Israel divulged, “Medicine parallels life in that it’s in a constant state of change. Hospitals must offer an orchestra of care across the board using the latest technologies, mobile, virtual etc. in order for people to not only live independently well as they get older. I predict that within 15 years, robots will be introduced to not only provide clinical care but also will perform procedures on patients.”
Prof. Yitshak Kreiss, Dir. Gen. of Sheba Medical Center was exuberant with both the cooperation and collaboration.
“As Israel’s first designated City of Health, Sheba is constantly introducing and implementing cutting edge innovations to improve both patient care and hospital services, it is a distinct honor to have hosted the world’s elite hospital and health system executives. Our collaborations and blueprints for the hospital of the future will enable all of us to provide quality care for the next several decades, starting today,” he said.