The ambitious plan is designed to make Israel a digital health power and improve the health of its residents, and of the entire world.
Israel’s cabinet today approved a NIS 922 million budget for a national digital health project. The plan includes a number of elements, the combination of which is designed to make Israel a digital health power and improve the health of its residents, and of the entire world. Implementation of this ambitious plan is more difficult than simply announcing it and budgeting the money, but it has considerable potential.The plan has several elements. The first is upgrading infrastructure for medical digital information in Israel, so that any researcher in higher education or industry can easily access this information through inquiries (for example, “What characterizes the blood and genetic tests of smokers who do not develop cancer?”). In order to do this, information from all sources (health funds, hospitals, and private clinics) must be integrated, the information must be severed from characteristics that can identify a specific person, and laws must be passed allowing research to be conducted using unidentified information, even without requesting the patients’ consent.
The second element is strengthening the digital health industry in Israel by providing incentives for founding startups, cooperative ventures between startups and medical agencies, investment in startups in Israel by international companies, and training personnel in the sector. NIS 223 million will be allocated for this aspect of the plan.
Read more: http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-cabinet-approves-nis-922m-for-digital-health-program-1001229256
