This forward-focus event was in line with Sheba’s commitment to boosting medical leadership and major scientific research. Also in keeping with this mission is the current development of a new Innovation Center at Sheba, where researchers from academia and industry can collaborate. Several startups that recently joined the Innovation Center are already working on inventive health care and life-saving technologies.
“We are at a critical point in health care. Now – technology, scientific advancement, and an increased understanding of patient care enable us to effectively diagnose and treat patients outside the hospital in ways we never imagined,” said Charles N. Kahn III, president, and CEO of the Federation of American Hospitals. “The academic health center must adapt to this changing care environment, and in a first-of-its-kind international meeting, Sheba Medical Center united top leaders and minds from around the world to confront the implications of these challenges for their vital institutions.”
The Sheba International Summit granted some of America’s most progressive hospital and health care executives the opportunity to speak about how they are transforming health care. Simultaneously, they were able to share and explore new ideas.
“The Sheba summit was the perfect forum to discuss our innovation efforts and learn from other leaders who are mapping the future of healthcare with their own great ideas,” said Ralph W. Muller, CEO of the University of Pennsylvania Health System. “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 of these elements join to improve outcomes, as well as to drive greater value as we, like all systems, face rising costs.”
In the words of 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 happening here. Technology is converging in many areas, like genomics, Artificial Intelligence, IoT (Internet of things), and VR (Virtual Reality). The challenge is to use these technologies to promote top medical care. And at Sheba, they are already doing clinical trials with these technologies.”
David Entwistle, president, and CEO of Stanford Health Care discussed the ways in which the world around us is changing, and how the rise of digital health, value-based care models, and heightened consumer expectations challenge the status quo for hospitals. He explains, “The ways in which 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, Dean of Medical Faculty and CEO of Johns Hopkins Medicine, reiterated the current need to train today’s medical professionals for tomorrow’s challenges. “Healthcare is evolving rapidly, and academic medical centers such as ours and Sheba must respond. We need to transform how we educate the next generation of medical practitioners, incorporating new models and methods to ensure that we continue to provide the highest level of care to our patients.”
Sheba Medical Center, the largest hospital in the Middle East, is a thriving center at the pinnacle of medical science and care delivery. Sheba is dedicated to keeping hospitals a step ahead of the changes, while providing patients with assurance that they will receive the care they need in the best possible setting.
Prof. Mordechai Shani, Director General Emeritus of Sheba Medical Center, asserted, “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. … I predict that within 15 years, robots will be introduced to provide clinical care as well as perform procedures on patients.”
“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,” said Prof. Yitzhak Kreiss, Dir. Gen. of Sheba Medical Center. “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.”
