Newsweek, in partnership with global data research firm Statista, ranked Sheba as the world's 13th best smart hospital and #1 within Israel.
The listing comes just months after Newsweek/Statista ranked the Ramat Gan hospital as one of the world's ten best hospitals for the third year in a row.
Sheba is considered the largest facility of its kind in Israel and the Middle East. The hospital, in the Tel Hashomer neighborhood, handles more than a million patients a year, including 200,000 emergency visits, and employs about 1,250 physicians, 2,300 nurses and 1,500 other healthcare workers.
Sheba Medical Center played a vital role in spurring the global 'smart revolution' when it created the ARC Innovation Center (Accelerate Redesign Collaborate), nearly three years ago. Its' acceleration was heightened during the recent COVID-19 pandemic in Israel, where telemedicine played a critical role in patient care, thus providing revolutionary digital healthcare solutions that are being implemented on a global scale.
"The pandemic has accelerated a trend that has been years in the making. Information technology and other tools that make hospitals 'smarter' have already become a big differentiator in most health care markets," said Newsweek. "Technology is not only the best way for hospitals to achieve these goals, it may be the only way."
"Healthcare systems and hospitals must be prepared for an array of challenges during the next decade. Thus, hospitals must revolutionize and introduce smart break-through technologies that will enhance patient care, whether in dealing with a pandemic or day-to-day care," said Professor Yitshak Kreiss, Director General of Sheba Medical Center. "As a Top 10 World's Best Hospital, Sheba Medical Center continues to redesign the face of futuristic medicine. I am especially proud to work alongside our top doctors, who have played an integral role in transforming Sheba into a recognized 'Smart Hospital' that is revolutionizing healthcare on a global scale."
"At the top of the list of technologies that hospitals need is telemedicine. The ability to provide services, monitor patients, and communicate with them remotely proved invaluable during the pandemic. Telemedicine can benefit hospitals and patients in other ways. Helping patients while they’re in their homes reduces costs, catches more problems faster, reduces infection and makes health care more comfortable and convenient. And shifting rehabilitation to the home means that patients can be released from the hospital sooner," added Professor Eyal Zimlichman, Chief Innovation Officer at Sheba.