Israeli AI Program Cuts Hospitalizations by Nearly Half, Study Finds

Israel's largest healthcare provider, Clalit Health Services, is operating an artificial intelligence-based program that helps identify unusual medical conditions in patients while reducing unnecessary hospitalizations, Israel Hayom reported yesterday (Tuesday).

According to the report, the program has spared thousands of chronically ill patients from nearly half of their hospital admissions, significantly reducing the risk of infections, complications, and death while easing the burden on internal medicine departments.

The program, called LOTEM (Guidance and Targeted Treatment), has been operating for about two years in selected Clalit clinics and currently includes about 12,000 patients. A study tracking 1,800 participants found that after two years in the program, unplanned hospitalizations fell by about 46%, total hospitalization days dropped by 56%, and repeat hospitalizations within 30 days declined by roughly 69%, compared with patients receiving standard care.

The program is built around a care model led by nurses working alongside family physicians. Using artificial intelligence, patients at high risk of medical deterioration are identified and then monitored regularly by a nurse, who develops a personalized treatment plan together with the patient's family doctor.

LOTEM currently operates in about 50 clinics across Clalit's Northern, Haifa and Western Galilee, Sharon-Shomron, Central, Tel Aviv-Yafo, and Southern districts. It focuses on patients with chronic conditions including diabetes, heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), kidney disease, and high blood pressure.

Ran Blitzer, Clalit's deputy CEO and head of innovation, told Israel Hayom: "One of the toughest challenges facing health systems worldwide has been solved here for the first time, through a research and development process that lasted more than a decade. Israel, like many countries, is dealing with a continuing increase in the number of people living with multiple chronic illnesses at the same time, and the world's leading health systems have not, until now, managed to address this population systematically. The new findings indicate that the solution lies in advanced community medicine and a medical model based on care management, coordination among professional teams, and thoughtful use of advanced technologies."