Strong tech backbone for digital healthcare

The pandemic has created a trend toward virtual appointments and home hospitalization, using sensors and other IoT technologies including analytics.

Eran Alroy Eran Alroy

Covid-19 has been called a “digital accelerant” for many industries of late, but nowhere is it more significant than in home healthcare.

 The pandemic has created a trend toward virtual appointments and “home hospitalization,” as patients endeavor to avoid clinical settings by using sensors and other Internet of Things technologies including advanced analytics for improved diagnostics and prognosis. Home hospitalization is also fueled by the rapid growth of an aging population worldwide, where the elderly would prefer to receive continuous care in the comfort of their own homes.

In Israel, home hospitalization has recently gained public and economic interest, as it can reduce costs while improving healthy outcomes. Maccabi Healthcare Services is one of the leaders in this movement.

Maccabi CIO Ofir Kadosh said: “If you want to handle the crisis, you need to spot and deal with the bottlenecks in the service. Without that, you will become overwhelmed and unable to deliver quality care.”

Home hospitalization and virtual appointments

Maccabi functions based on a decentralized organizational approach with six regional centers, including 150 branches and clinics, that provide full access to members throughout the country. By building a digital strategy based on strong technology backbone, Maccabi has been able to make nearly 80% of appointments virtual, with 90% of Covid-19 patients able to receive home hospitalization.

Maccabi integrated video conferencing into its Electronic Medical Records (EMR) system, which is used by all staff. Caregivers can initiate virtual appointments at the click of a button, reducing risk levels for them and the patient. It also increases hospital availability, so that patients who do need hospitalization can be admitted more quickly.

Maccabi has committed itself to becoming more digital, which includes integrating data into its decision-making processes. Accurate information also helps the not-for-profit organization to constantly innovate and provide high quality services. This helped Maccabi become the first organization outside of the Ministry of Health to be authorized to administer Covid-19 tests. Its reporting systems were easily integrated within a matter of days. This – and other core systems – are all fully integrated thanks to webMethods from Software AG.

Integration is mission-critical for its new initiatives and Software AG is proud to power that. Maccabi can deliver high quality care at the scale it needs, because of the commitment to data and technology throughout the whole business.

Read more about webMethods and how Software AG can help power your digital acceleration program by clicking below.