This paper examines how the digital health revolution can be leveraged to reduce existing disparities in healthcare access across different population groups, while also proposing institutional models to strengthen Israel’s public healthcare system and advance public medical research.
Stakeholder Analysis:
The digital health revolution marks a profound transformation in the way healthcare is delivered and consumed. It could evolve into an exclusive tier of premium care accessible only to the wealthy, or it could become a tool for broad accessibility. The design of these systems will ultimately determine their role and impact.
Patients strive to receive the highest quality care at the lowest possible cost. Since healthcare demand is largely inelastic, patients may face excessively high costs for quality treatment if affordable alternatives are lacking.
Doctors and the broader medical establishment aim to enhance treatment capabilities. However, if emerging technologies threaten professional roles or reduce employment opportunities, resistance to adoption may occur. Additionally, some physicians may transition from clinical practice to entrepreneurship, seeking to profit from these innovations.
Governments often prioritize reducing short-term healthcare expenditures, which can lead to shifting responsibility to market forces. Such dynamics may create a problematic alignment between short-term political goals and private sector interests, potentially at the expense of building the digital health infrastructure necessary for the future.
Policy Alternatives:
A new layer of medical infrastructure is developing alongside hospitals and clinics: personal digital health, encompassing connected devices and digital monitoring platforms. The central policy question is how to ensure accessibility—through market-driven models or integration within the public healthcare framework.
To ensure that digital health remains publicly accessible, it is vital to prevent essential platforms from becoming proprietary systems controlled by private technology giants such as Google, Facebook, or Amazon.
Recommended Actions:
- Integrate proven advanced digital health systems into the public healthcare sector for broad public benefit.
- Promote public-sector healthcare R&D, funded by government grants and led by dedicated innovation centers, with models that include equity participation and royalties to sustain public investment.
- Include funding for advanced digital health services within the national basic health insurance package, ensuring universal access.
- Establish dedicated grant programs within existing research institutions to encourage the development of digital health technologies as a public good.