Israeli medicine in comparison with Russian: the conclusions are obvious, although with a number of nuances. Find out why patients choose Israeli clinics for cancer treatment The truth is that Israeli medicine is so good

I have heard the statement many times that Israeli medicine is the best. Therefore, when I was in Tel Aviv, I decided to examine my heart again. Everyone knows that I had serious problems: atrial fibrillation, cardiac arrest and a complete change of course to a healthy lifestyle. Of course, I trust my clinic 100 percent, but since the opportunity presented itself, why not. A second opinion never hurts.

In general, in Israel there are three options for medical care. The first is insurance medicine. They are also called health insurance funds. The employer collects a health tax and a contribution to the health insurance fund from every working Israeli. 95% of Israelis are members of one of the 4 health insurance funds.

The second option is private insurance. Used as a complement to the first option. Among other things, it can give a person the opportunity to receive medical services abroad in difficult cases. This may be necessary, for example, when a person needs organ or bone marrow replacement, and there is no suitable donor in Israel.

Well, there is always private medical care. This is for those Israelis who, for various reasons, are not members of the health insurance funds (for example, they live permanently abroad and do not contribute to National Insurance) and for those who want to see a doctor who does not accept through the health insurance funds or wants to speed up the queues .

What to do if you are a tourist?

There are two options: contact a private clinic or a medical tourism company. There are quite a few such companies and agents, and as in any market they are divided into large and small, experienced and inexperienced, honest and dishonest, professional and pretending to be so. Therefore, in order not to risk it, I chose the first option and found a good private clinic for Israelis, which also accepts foreigners - Tel Aviv Medical Center...

The center is located right on the waterfront in Tel Aviv:

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The main thing for me is that there is a powerful Cardiology Department here. Before the examination, we talked for half an hour, studied my notes and medical history, and then performed stress tests (stress ECG, echocardiography and stress echocardiography). This was especially important because I am constantly drawn to the mountains, to any extreme, and it is important to understand the limit of my heart. What it can forgive me and what it can’t:

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First of all, they shaved my very hairy chest to stick a bunch of sensors:

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They put me on my side to do an ultrasound of the heart, a cardiogram, etc. The clinic has excellent equipment - for example, an ultrasound machine costs $140,000, each attachment on it costs $9,000:

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The procedures were performed by a specialist, and my doctor monitored the readings and wrote everything down:

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After that, the brutality began: they put me on a track and forced me to run. I love to run and do it often, but the doctors began to push me literally to the point of exhaustion.

When I started to say that I couldn’t, the doctors said: “Great! Give me five more minutes!” In general, the point of the test was to make me literally fall off the path onto the couch:

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Immediately they began to re-examine me and study the behavior of the body under load:

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Having come to my senses a little, I got dressed, washed myself and went to talk with the doctor:

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Based on the results of the examination, the doctor advised me to replace two drugs in my course of treatment. One is not critical, but the second is very useful - it is worth having on hand in case of sudden arrhythmia away from clinics and specialists:

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After that, they took me around the hospital:

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The clinic has a neurological department with all the necessary advanced equipment. And of course, all the experts:

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This is a cozy waiting room, used in the same way as a telemedicine room:

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There is a TV with a camera for conferences and remote consultations:

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The same owners as Tel Aviv Medical Center own another Matzpen clinic, which is located across the wall. This clinic is already highly specialized: treatment of psychiatry, neurology, addictions. The clinic is very rare of its kind - even those patients who initially go to large public hospitals in Tel Aviv end up, on the recommendations of doctors, in Matzpen.

Why? Firstly, public hospitals do not accept patients with psychiatric problems for outpatient treatment. Secondly, psychiatry is not as profitable as, for example, operations. Psychiatry requires a lot of patience and time. And the operation takes 2-3-4 days - and the person is sent home. In just a few days of psychiatric treatment, it is impossible to even relieve symptoms, let alone treatment. It is necessary to monitor the patient's response to the medication and adjust if necessary. It is necessary to ensure that the patient does not stop taking medications. Psychotherapy and sometimes social rehabilitation are required:

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Doctors' offices are designed like ordinary living rooms. Here you talk to the doctor, and all procedures take place in special rooms:

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Eye test equipment:

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Finally, I would like to add that the clinic is international; they speak three languages ​​fluently: English, Hebrew and Russian. The real luminaries of medicine work here; Tel Aviv Medical Center provides services for health insurance companies and insurance companies. An excellent option when you need to be examined quickly, efficiently and confidentially:

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By the way, any questions about the clinics can be asked to their director

Medicine in Israel is at the level of the most developed countries in the world, and in some areas it is ahead of the countries of Europe and the USA. The country's government actively funds research in the most relevant areas of medical science, and the quality of treatment in Israeli clinics is under the constant control of the Ministry of Health and the public.
The influx of a large number of patients coming to Israel for treatment from abroad also contributes to the accumulation of extensive experience in various areas of medicine by local hospitals and doctors. These and other factors place Israeli medicine in first place among other developed countries.

The medical profession is one of the most prestigious in Israel - competition for medical faculties reaches seven hundred people per place. The duration of training is six years, and including the period of internship and specialization - up to twelve years. In the future, all doctors continuously improve their qualifications, attending special courses and seminars every week, allowing them to keep abreast of the latest trends in medicine. In addition, each doctor undergoes training abroad, in medical centers in Europe or the USA. This determines the high level of training and qualifications of Israeli doctors.
Medicine in Israel is insurance. All residents are members of one of the “health funds”, which collect contributions and, if necessary, pay for treatment. More than 8% of GNP is spent on financing medicine in Israel.
The organization of medicine in Israel is focused on the creation of large multidisciplinary hospitals. Therefore, there are not as many medical institutions here as in some other countries, but each of them is staffed by doctors of all specialties, equipped with modern expensive equipment, is a clinical base for medical schools, and conducts research and testing of new treatment methods.
Medical care is provided by both private and public institutions. There are eleven public general hospitals in the country, five
state geriatric centers and eight psychiatric clinics. A number of hospitals belong to health insurance funds - for example, the Clalit insurance fund contains fourteen hospitals. Zionist and missionary organizations also own hospitals. In private clinics, unlike public ones, the patient has the right to choose which doctor to treat. In total, there are 259 private and public clinics and other medical institutions in Israel. Among them are the Assuta Medical Center, founded as the first private clinic back in 1934, and now the largest network of private clinics in Israel, the Ichilov Medical Center, one of the top ten world leaders in medical tourism, the Asaf ha Rofe Clinic - the third largest among public hospitals , and others.

Achievements of Israeli medicine

• 1st place in the world in terms of survival rate of cancer patients (according to WHO), including:
• 1st place in terms of survival rate.
• 1st place in survival rate for stomach cancer.
• In the top ten in the world in terms of survival rate for all other types of cancer.
• One of the first places in the world in terms of life expectancy among men (80 years) and third among women (84 years, according to the UN).
• One of the lowest (third from bottom) infant and child mortality rates in the world.
• One of the lowest death rates from heart attacks in the world.
• One of the first places in the world to fund medical research.

Israeli inventions in the field of medicine

• ApiFix- a system for correcting severe spinal curvatures that minimizes complications, recovery time and cost.
• ReWalk- a robotic exoskeleton, which today is used for the rehabilitation of patients with paralysis, athletes with severe injuries, and still incurable spinal disorders.
• Innovative development of an Israeli company Hamida Cell on cell therapy of oncological and orphan diseases.
• Aer-O-Scope- a device for colonoscopy, which greatly facilitates this unpleasant procedure due to a flexible and elastic probe, as well as balloons that facilitate the passage of the probe through the rectum.
• Nano-retina Bio-Retina, which allows even the blind to see by combining a micro-device with the neurons of the eye. The effect occurs almost instantly after a 30-minute operation.

Areas of Israeli medicine

The most promising areas of Israeli medicine today are oncology, orthopedics, ophthalmology, cardiovascular surgery, gynecology, infertility treatment by in vitro fertilization, and transplantology. Also, unique local techniques are used in treatment at the Dead Sea - balneology, climatotherapy, medicines and cosmetic products based on salts and minerals, and other options for using the healing properties of this natural attraction.

Israeli surgeons perform complex operations in a minimally invasive manner that does not leave noticeable scars on the human body and does not create problems with postoperative rehabilitation. In this case, the muscles are not cut, but moved apart, surgical instruments are inserted into the body through small incisions and tubes inserted into them, and the doctor can monitor the progress of the operation on the screen. Surgical robots are used that allow ultra-precise operations in hard-to-reach places without the risk of damaging neighboring organs, such as the da Vinci robot. The successes of Israeli specialists in the field of maxillofacial surgery are widely known.
characterized by the highest percentage of successful fertilizations.
In the treatment of oncological diseases, in addition to traditional methods, hormonal therapy, immune therapy, radioactive iodine treatment, cryotherapy, bone marrow transplantation for oncohematological diseases, and other new methods are used.
Orthopedists in the country practice such complex operations and procedures as repairing ruptured tendons, transplanting cartilage grown from table cells, injecting artificial cartilage lubricant into joints to treat arthrosis, and restoring walking skills to people with paralysis of the legs using an external exoskeleton. The experience and qualifications of Israeli doctors allow them to treat children with cerebral palsy and other diseases that are considered hopeless in other countries.
The complex makes it possible to achieve long-term remission in patients with psoriasis, which is still considered incurable.

About the advantages in comparison with Russia.

Medical tourism in Israel

Every year, hundreds of thousands of foreigners visit Israel for treatment and wellness purposes. The most significant flow consists of US citizens, who have extremely expensive medical services in their country, and citizens of the CIS countries, who are not satisfied with the level of medicine in their homeland. The high level of medical science and medical care in Israel attracts many foreign patients who were unable to receive sufficiently qualified treatment at home. One of the advantages of Israeli “medical tourism” is the price of treatment, which is 10-20% lower than in clinics in developed countries in Europe and America. In addition, tourists from Russia and the CIS in Israel do not face a language barrier, since almost all clinics today employ medical staff from among those from these countries. The development of medical tourism in Israel is facilitated by a visa-free regime between many European countries, including some post-Soviet states.
According to local law, medical tourists have the same rights and are treated on the same basis as Israeli citizens.

Today, doctors and hospitals in Israel are provided with everything necessary to provide highly qualified assistance in the treatment of diseases of any profile.

According to experts, medical tourism in Israel will remain one of the main areas of international medical tourism in the next decade.

As part of their work, employees of the DoktorIsrael portal are constantly faced with different opinions, as well as unsubstantiated prejudices associated with both the treatment of citizens of Russia and the CIS countries in Israel, and with the general perception of Israel and Israelis. In this material we want to highlight several main misconceptions about medical tourism in Israel, as well as some features of this industry as a whole.

1. It is better to receive treatment without intermediaries, by contacting clinics directly

   Such statements can be made either by agents who pose as hospital employees (and therefore begin communication with you with an outright lie), or by people who naively believe that they went directly to the hospital. In fact, it's almost impossible. Treatment of foreign patients requires separate resources and a special approach from the public hospital. To do this, clinics usually resort to outsourcing, a common phenomenon in the modern economy, and turn to freelance agencies that deal with foreign patients for them. In Israel, the only exception is the Sourasky Medical Center (Ichilov), which has its own medical tourism department owned by the hospital itself.

   The government clinic is a huge and complex organization whose purpose is, first and foremost, to treat Israeli citizens. Therefore, medical tourism for these clinics is exclusively an additional field of activity and a source of income. The picture is similar in private clinics - they provide a slightly more personal approach, but also employ external agents. Even those organizations that include the name of the clinic in their name are usually agencies with established partnerships.

   The slogan “Treatment without intermediaries!” is used in the most cynical way to lure patients to these particular healthcare providers. Very often, people, lured by the opportunity to save money on intermediary services, remain disappointed because the price is the same, but the treatment is not what they expected: they have to queue like any other patient, which significantly increases the length of stay in the country and associated These are living expenses.

   Independent agencies collaborating with different hospitals always begin communication with you with the truth: they ask for your medical history and, based on their knowledge of the market and the capabilities of different clinics and doctors, select the most suitable option for you in terms of treatment method, clinic, and attending physician etc. Such agencies have established relationships with several clinics, which allows them to act based on the interests of a particular patient and his individual medical case, rather than relying solely on the capabilities of one single clinic. Read more about treatment without intermediaries in this article.

2. The level of medicine – “ours is no worse”

   This is one of the most problematic statements, since the opposite is so obvious that it is not clear how one can convince a person so rooted in his delusion. Don't get us wrong, we are not at all against patriotism, but not when health or even life is at stake.

   The fact remains that the rating of Russian healthcare relative to other countries is very low. One explanation for this is the relatively new infrastructure that was formed only after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Even considering that Israel is a young country, just under 70 years old, 70 and 25 are a huge difference, an entire generation. And sometimes this is exactly what is needed for successful development – ​​a change of generation. It is quite possible that this will happen both in Russia and in the CIS countries (in Belarus this is already happening successfully), but if help is needed now and it is possible to get it immediately, any doctor will agree that there is no need to wait.

   In fact, diagnostics in Israel are at the highest level. People come here repeatedly for this very reason. And the opportunity to double-check the diagnosis is always desirable, because the only thing worse than no treatment is treatment if the diagnosis is incorrect. Ultimately, it is everyone's choice where to get treatment. Good doctors are everywhere, but the better the country’s healthcare system, the higher the chances of a successful outcome.

3. High cost of treatment

   When it comes to finances, everything is, of course, relative. In this case - regarding the capabilities of each individual person or family. Naturally, treatment abroad at the appropriate prices may seem like an excessive expense. But it’s worth considering the relationship between the investment and the result obtained. When it comes to conducting high-quality diagnostics or a professionally performed operation, many will agree that it is impossible to save money, because unprofessional performance of these tasks can lead to serious consequences.

   When talking about the cost of treatment in Israel, it is very difficult to cover all the nuances of this complex financial scheme. After all, there are always many factors involved. Repeating the above, it is almost impossible to contact the clinic directly, and prices are set based on the interests of all parties. Although it is very important to familiarize yourself with the prices of the Ministry of Health, additional markups, direct or indirect, are simply inevitable. By contacting medical tourism departments at hospitals, you pay for their work, which is taken into account in the final cost of treatment.

   By contacting an intermediary company, you can pay for services either separately or as part of the treatment itself. Also, some companies offer more budget-friendly options when possible (for example, support for late-stage cancer patients in a specialized clinic in Belarus.

   In other words, money plays a key role always and everywhere, but this does not negate human relations and empathy. By communicating with service providers, you yourself will quickly guess what exactly motivates them.

4. Cancer is a death sentence, and official medicine is powerless

   Oncophobia is gaining momentum - the fear is especially great of something incomprehensible and invisible. Quite crazy theories from the point of view of science and medicine constantly appear on the Internet: treatment with soda, fasting, esoteric practices, etc. or disappointing information that cancer cannot be cured at all and everything that is being done within the framework of official medicine is just pumping money out of patients and their families.

   In fact, in the early stages, cancer is often curable, but it is important to remember that the disease has many varieties, so the safest and most sensible decision is to be responsible for your life and your health. Then cancer can be both prevented and cured.

   But this is possible with the help of targeted actions and consultations with a doctor, rather than collecting information on the Internet, which is often incorrect and contradictory. Therefore, when there are alarm bells, you should not panic and beat yourself up about “this can’t be cured,” but act.

5. Doctors in Israel take hopeless patients out of greed for profit

   It is impossible to speak for everyone, but the companies presented on the website do not strive to accept all patients for treatment indiscriminately. Priority is given to those who can be helped. In some cases, this approach may also seem cruel. Doctors and consultants do not strive to invite everyone to treatment. This is precisely why medical coordinators exist - to create the most accurate picture of what is happening with the patient and make a decision whether it is advisable for this person to come for treatment in Israel in principle.

   In what cases are foreign patients denied medical care in Israel? These are, first of all, cancer patients in the last stages, since expensive treatment is extremely rarely justified (in such a condition one cannot count on more than an improvement in the quality of life and a slight prolongation of life). Also, small patients are not always accepted (due to the difficulties and risks associated with their treatment, as well as the need to constantly be registered) and patients with genetic diseases and any conditions that require long-term treatment and constant medical monitoring.

In conclusion, the greatest mistake is to take one story or point of view and apply it to everyone: all doctors, all hospitals, all intermediaries, the entire medical tourism market both in Israel and around the world. In any field there are professionals and amateurs, just good people who love their profession and are friendly towards people and, conversely, unfriendly. Each of us has the freedom and intelligence necessary to make the right decision.

The portal site wishes everyone health, brightness of mind and a positive attitude!

If a person truly wants to live, then medicine is powerless

Israeli medicine is one of the world standards for the quality of treatment of the most complex diseases, the high professionalism of doctors, the use of the most modern technologies, constant improvement and other very, very best things. How to understand everything that you say about Israeli medicine? Where is the truth, where is exaggeration and idealization, and where is an outright lie?

The first thing you can be sure of is that the level of Israeli medicine is really high. The constantly at war country managed to rise in quality of medicine to the same level as such recognized mastodons in medicine as the USA, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and in some indicators even surpass them. And although the costs of medicine in the Israeli state are not the highest, especially compared to the United States, the country is an example to many, including Russia, of how to rationally spend state budgets on healthcare.
Insurance medicine according to the Israeli model, although imperfect and often the subject of criticism in the country itself, still allows any citizen to count on effective medical care within a fairly broad framework. The “health basket” guaranteed to every Israeli who pays insurance premiums (the minimum payment is 103 shekels - about $35 per month) includes not only basic services, but also the most modern services, such as IVF for women unable to become pregnant naturally medications for the treatment of hepatitis C, complex surgical operations.
The average life expectancy in Israel is 80 years, one of the highest in the world, and is also largely ensured by excellent medicine.
Israeli medicine has achieved particular success in oncology, cardiology, and neurosurgery. These are complex, high-tech branches of medicine that require significant intellectual and material resources, and not every country is able to provide them.

What's wrong with Israeli medicine

In addition to the obvious and indisputable advantages, there are also disadvantages in Israeli medicine. The Israelis themselves, extremely proud of their medicine at the international level, are daily faced with its not so attractive underbelly. These include overcrowded hospitals, crazy queues at clinics and hospitals, waiting for a planned operation for many months, and the inability to choose a doctor within the medical insurance framework, and a paid ambulance if the arriving team does not consider your call vital. For everything that is not included in the basic “health basket” you need to pay extra or take out expensive insurance. So treatment in Israel for Israelis, despite medical insurance, costs a pretty penny.

Foreigners who see medicine in Israel from its frontal façade do not often encounter its dark side. Although, by law, you are required to be treated under equal conditions with the Israelis - to occupy the same queues, to be treated by the wrong doctors you want, to lie in the same wards as everyone else. In many ways, this lack of awareness among foreign patients is ensured by the good development of the medical tourism infrastructure in Israel. Numerous providers in this area are ready to relieve foreigners of queues at clinics, provide access to the luminary of medicine that is inaccessible to ordinary Israeli citizens, hospital service at the highest level, and so on. As they say, for your money - any whim.

Israeli medicine is often accused of inhumanity. Dina Rubina’s statement about Israeli medicine is widely known; it is somewhat grotesque and therefore should not be taken literally.
“Israeli medicine is magnificent, it amazes with its achievements, but it has one drawback - it is not interested in an ordinary person with an ordinary disease. But give them a corpse, preferably a stale one, then they will pounce on it and revive it to everyone’s honor and respect.”

In fact, this is not entirely true, although in some cases you may encounter an impersonal attitude towards yourself. But the effectiveness of treatment will more than compensate for your lack of emotions.
For foreigners, a significant disadvantage of Israeli medicine is the high cost of treatment, especially for patients from post-Soviet countries. However, the demand for Israeli medicine from foreign patients remains consistently high. People are willing to pay any money to get healing or at least hope for it. And Israel more often than Russian medicine lives up to these hopes.

https://www..JPG

2017-01-24 12:59:51 2017-01-24 12:59:51 IsramedikTurmed

Israeli medicine has a well-deserved reputation as one of the best in the world. Existing statistics show that Israelis have one of the highest life expectancies on the planet. In addition, Israel holds first place in the world in such an important indicator as the survival rate of patients suffering from cancer. Medicine in Israel has the opportunity to use the latest scientific and technical developments, the healthcare sector is well equipped and staffed with excellent specialists. Many citizens of other countries prefer to travel abroad for treatment, to Israel.

The Land of Israel has given the world a large number of famous scientists who have advanced medical science far forward. The contribution of each of them is a brick in the building of modern medicine in Israel and world medicine in general. Israeli specialists in the field of medical science have made a number of fundamental discoveries and inventions, such as the study of extrasexual gene recombination, the creation of a method of electrotherapy of the heart, the development of techniques for treating traumatic shock, the discovery and study of methods for treating tuberculous meningitis, and so on.

In the country's medical institutions, methods of practical medicine are constantly being improved, new methods of diagnosis and treatment are being studied and implemented. Israeli medicine can be proud of the successful introduction into everyday medical practice of minimally invasive operations, orthopedic prosthetics technologies, original methods for diagnosing and treating oncological diseases; Currently, Israeli doctors have learned to treat almost any pathology of the heart and blood vessels; great success has been achieved in such complex areas as neurosurgery and ophthalmology. Israeli medicine recognized as a world leader in the treatment of gynecological diseases and prenatal diagnostics.

Israeli medicine is well integrated into global medical circles. Medical workers from Israel nowadays study at the best universities and medical institutes in the world, undergo internships in leading Western clinics, and take part in international research. Israeli medicine has at least four world-class medical research and educational centers (Hebrew University Medical School, Tel Aviv University Medical School, Technion Faculty of Medicine in Haifa, Ben-Gurion University Health Center). In addition, the country has seven large outpatient centers. Many institutions in the Israeli healthcare system are ready to receive foreign guests who wish to undergo diagnostics and treatment abroad.

Medical equipment for diagnostics and treatment made in Israel is used by hospitals all over the planet. These are ultrasound scanners, magnetic resonance imaging systems, nuclear cameras, high-quality surgical lasers and other modern equipment.

Medical services in Israel cost patients much less than treatment in clinics in Europe and North America. Other advantages of Israeli medicine are a strictly individual approach to the treatment of each patient, the possibility of holding consultations and consultations of specialists in the shortest possible time, openness to patients from other countries, high-quality medical and consumer services during their stay in Israeli clinics, excellent conditions for rehabilitation. Citizens from Russia and CIS countries can pass treatment in unique conditions, using medical services of the highest quality in a resort country, while communicating with medical staff in an understandable language (more than a quarter of the employees of the Israeli system speak Russian).

Every year, more and more foreign guests visit Israel to undergo diagnostic tests and treatment abroad, and then rehabilitation procedures. In addition, patients in Israeli medical institutions have a unique opportunity to visit the famous resorts of Israel, explore unique historical sights, and touch religious shrines.