Artificial Intelligence Powering Boom in Israel's Digital Health Sector

AI medical use cases include but are not limited to decision support tools for physicians, medical imaging analysis using computer vision, and big data analytics for population health management.

Israel has been a technological wonder, especially because it exists in a hostile environment and is a very small country.  Their contributions include science, space, technology, and health advances. It is worth a look at their health information technology infrastructure.  I wrote this article some time ago, however, due to some personal health issues did not publish it until today.

-Israel’s reams of electronic medical records –health data on its population of around 8.9 million people-- are proving fruitful for a growing number of digital health startups training algorithms to do things like early detection of diseases and produce more accurate medical diagnoses.

According to a new report by Start-Up Nation Central, the growth in the number of Israeli digital health startups –537 companies, up from 327 in 2014—has drawn in new investors, including Israeli VCs who have never previously invested in healthcare. This has driven financing in the sector to a record $511M in 2018, up 32% year on year. By the first quarter of 2019, the amount raised was already at $214M.

Of the $511M, over 50% ($285M) went to companies in decision support and diagnostics which rely heavily on data crunching. Overall, 85% ($433M) of the sector’s total financing went to health companies relying on some form of machine learning–a clear trend showing AI in the ascendancy.  AI medical use cases include but are not limited to decision support tools for physicians, medical imaging analysis using computer vision, and big data analytics for population health management.

AI is powering a boom in Israel's digital health industry. GETTY

Foreign hospitals and universities are increasingly coming to Israel to look for Digital Health technologies and to invest in local companies. For example, in 2018, three major US hospitals engaged with Israeli digital health: Intermountain Healthcare’s investment in Zebra Medical, Mt. Sinai Ventures’ contract with digital speech therapy company Novotalk, and Thomas Jefferson University’s pilot validation program in conjunction with the Israeli Innovation Authority for clinical care and hospital operations solutions.

Start-Up Nation Central’s report on Israel’s Digital Health industry offers a comprehensive and up-to-date analysis of the state of the Israeli Digital Health ecosystem and its trends





Artificial Intelligence Powering Boom in Israel's Digital Health Sector: