Articles

What if health care worked like everything else?

Doctors use up-to-date communication technology in their personal lives, but the tools they use to communicate with professional colleagues are much more limited. In light of new research exploring the use of ...

Authors: Shira Fischer

Improving compliance with physical distancing across religious cultures in Israel

Physical distancing contains the corona virus, but compliance with physical distancing across religious minorities in Israel has been shown to be relatively poorer than in the majority population. This study t...

Authors: Gillie Gabay, Attila Gere, Lior Naamati-Schneider, Howard Moskowitz and Mahdi Tarabieh

The effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on patient visits to the emergency department and hospitalizations in medical wards in an Israeli medical center

The Covid-19 pandemic began in Israel on February 2020. Between February and October 2020, 2 periods of lockdown were imposed on Israeli population.

Authors: Yael Frenkel Nir, Yuval Levy, Amit Gutkind and Ehud Grossman

Lessons from Israel's COVID-19 Green Pass program

As of the beginning of March 2021, Israeli law requires the presentation of a Green Pass as a precondition for entering certain businesses and public spheres. Entitlement for a Green Pass is granted to Israeli...

Authors: Shelly Kamin-Friedman and Maya Peled Raz

Correction to: Ethnic and minority group differences in engagement with COVID-19 vaccination programmes – at Pandemic Pace; when vaccine confidence in mass rollout meets local vaccine hesitancy

Authors: John A. Reid and Mzwandile A. Mabhala

Mixed effect of increasing outflow of medical patients from an emergency department

Since 2014, the annual number of patients entering our emergency department (ED) has increased significantly. These were primarily Internal Medicine (IM) patients, and of these, 25–30% were admitted. The prese...

Authors: Joseph Mendlovic, Todd Zalut, Gabriel Munter, Ofer Merin, Amos M. Yinnon and David E. Katz

Oral health of the 65+ age group in Israel-2020

In 2019, a reform of dental services for older adults was implemented in Israel to improve access and reduce barriers that stood in their way. The reform stipulated that preventive and restorative dentistry wo...

Authors: Ayelet Berg-Warman, Ile Kermel Schiffman, Shlomo P. Zusman and Lena Natapov

Reforming the MRI system: the Israeli National Program to shorten waiting times and increase efficiency

Long waiting times (WT) for Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) are a challenge in many countries and demand is forecast to increase with ageing populations. Since MRI is essential for diagnosis in numerous medic...

Authors: Noga Boldor, Sharona Vaknin, Vicki Myers, Nina Hakak, Michel Somekh, Rachel Wilf-Miron and Osnat Luxenburg

The involvement of community pediatricians in the treatment of developmental-behavioral difficulties as perceived by directors of child development centers

Developmental-behavioral issues are among the most frequent and disabling conditions of children and adolescents seen in ambulatory settings. Guidelines of the Israeli Pediatric Association and the Israeli Soc...

Authors: Rachel Nissanholtz-Gannot, Davidovitch Michael, Yael Ashkenazi and Zachi Grossman

Failure of Israeli pediatric residency curricula to cover child development and special education issues: results of a national survey on levels of knowledge

There is an increasing prevalence of developmental difficulties among Israeli children. We aimed to assess whether pediatricians are equipped to diagnose and manage them.

Authors: Itay Tokatly Latzer, Zachi Grossman, Nimrod Sachs, Orr Yahal, Daniel Even-Zohar, Lior Carmon, Hadar Flor-Hirsch, Amit Ringel, Christopher Fady Farah, Moran Avni-Maskit and Yael Leitner

Correction to: Physical activity, resilience, emotions, moods, and weight control, during the COVID-19 global crisis

Authors: Sima Zach, Javier Fernandez-Rio, Aviva Zeev, Miki Ophir and Sigal Eilat-Adar

Vaccine injury compensation: the Israeli case

Following other countries, Israel passed the Vaccine Injury Compensation Law in 1989, which provides for compensation to vaccine recipients who had suffered injuries without proving negligence. In 2021, after ...

Authors: Shelly Kamin-Friedman and Nadav Davidovitch

The need for cardiac surgery differential tariffs in Israel at the era of aging population and emerging technology: Importance of procedure type and patient complexity as assessed by EuroSCORE

Reimbursement for cardiac surgical procedures in Israel is uniform and does not account for diversity in costs of various procedures or for diversity in patient mix. In an era of new and costly technology coup...

Authors: J. Mendlovic, O. Merin, D. Fink, R. Tauber, E. Jacobzon, S. Tager, F. B. Mimouni and S. Silberman

Physical activity, resilience, emotions, moods, and weight control, during the COVID-19 global crisis

This study aimed at exploring the relationships between physical activity, weight control, and psycho-social aspects of the COVID-19 lockdown, which have characterized the Israeli population’s behavior during ...

Authors: Sima Zach, Javier Fernandez-Rio, Aviva Zeev, Miki Ophir and Sigal Eilat-Adar

Factors associated with medical complications after body art among Israeli adults: a retrospective study

Body-art, including tattoos and piercings, is steadily increasing world-wide but with relatively limited reporting of adverse outcomes. The objective of the present study was to identify correlates that would ...

Authors: Liat Korn, Hagit Bonny-Noach, Gideon Koren and Rachel Nissanholtz-Gannot

Game-related injuries in schools: a retrospective nationwide 6-year evaluation and implications for prevention policy

Child injury is a global public health problem. Children spend 25–50% of their daytime in school and risks of school accidents are high. The purpose of this study is to perform a comprehensive analysis of game...

Authors: Eli Jaffe, Anna Khalemsky and Michael Khalemsky

Does a policy that requires adherence to a regular primary care physician improve the actual adherence of patients?

Continuity of care by the same personal physician is a key factor in an effective and efficient health care system. Studies that support the association between high adherence and better outcomes were done in ...

Authors: A. Golan-Cohen, G. Blumberg, E. Merzon, E. Kitai, Y. Fogelman, A. Shipotovsky and S. Vinker

Prediction of vaccine hesitancy based on social media traffic among Israeli parents using machine learning strategies

Vaccines have contributed to substantial reductions of morbidity and mortality from vaccine-preventable diseases, mainly in children. However, vaccine hesitancy was listed by the World Health Organization (WHO...

Authors: Shirly Bar-Lev, Shahar Reichman and Zohar Barnett-Itzhaki

Academic activism on behalf of children during the COVID-19 pandemic in Israel; beyond public health advocacy

Among the challenges presented by the SARS-CoV2 pandemic are those related to balancing societal priorities with averting threats to population health. In this exceptional context a group of Israeli physicians...

Authors: Ora Paltiel, Hagit Hochner, David Chinitz, A. Mark Clarfield, Alex Gileles-Hillel, Amnon Lahad, Orly Manor, Ran Nir-Paz, Ari Paltiel, Chen Stein-Zamir, Ekaterina Yazhemsky and Ronit Calderon-Margalit

Educational level, ethnicity and mortality rates in Israel: national data linkage study

Many studies have shown significant gaps in mortality, and cause specific mortality by educational status. This study investigated these measures in Israel by educational and ethnic status in recent decades.

Authors: Nehama Frimit Goldberger and Ziona Haklai

Substances use between early and later stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in Israel

Only several empirical studies have examined substance use during the COVID-19 pandemic in general populations. Most of these studies compared self-reported substances use before the pandemic and during the pa...

Authors: Hagit Bonny-Noach, Keren Cohen-Louck and Inna Levy

The impact of Israel’s Front-of-Package labeling reform on consumers' behavior and intentions to change dietary habits

In January 2020, Israel launched a reform mandating Front-of-Package (FOP) labeling on food products. The current study examined the factors affecting consumers’ decision-making regarding the use of FOP labels...

Authors: Shosh Shahrabani

Addressing vaccine hesitancy and access barriers to achieve persistent progress in Israel’s COVID-19 vaccination program

As of March 31, 2021, Israel had administered 116 doses of vaccine for COVID-19 per 100 population (of any age) – far more than any other OECD country. It was also ahead of other OECD countries in terms of the...

Authors: Bruce Rosen, Ruth Waitzberg, Avi Israeli, Michael Hartal and Nadav Davidovitch

Dental health of preschool children after two-years of a supervised tooth brushing program in Southern Israel

Supervised tooth brushing is an important part of leading national oral health improvement programs in different countries.

Authors: Lena Natapov, Dan Dekel, Vadim Pikovsky and Shlomo Paul Zusman

Emergency department impaired adherence to personal protective equipment donning and doffing protocols during the COVID-19 pandemic

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a highly infectious viral pandemic that has claimed the lives of millions. Personal protective equipment (PPE) may reduce the risk of transmission for health care workers...

Authors: Tomer Lamhoot, Noa Ben Shoshan, Hagit Eisenberg, Gilad Fainberg, Mansour Mhiliya, Neta Cohen, Orly Bisker-Kassif, Orly Barak, Carolyn Weiniger and Tali Capua

National and regional trends in MRI utilization in the face of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic

Marked reductions in imaging exams have been documented during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study aimed to examine the effect of the two waves of COVID-19 on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) utilization at the n...

Authors: Osnat Luxenburg, Mor Saban, Vicki Myers, Sharona Vaknin, Noga Boldor and Rachel Wilf-Miron

Reduction in self-reported influenza-like-illness in school children and household members following influenza vaccine administration – a cohort study, Israel, 2016–7

Second-grade pupils in Israel have been vaccinated against influenza since the winter of 2016–2017. This study aims to appraise the rate reduction of seasonal influenza vaccine among vaccinated children and th...

Authors: Noa Shviro Roseman, Natalya Bilenko, Rivka Sheffer and Zohar Mor

Seven key parameters that facilitate clinical pharmacy practice: a comparison between Israel and the United States

Clinical pharmacists have advanced training that enables them to manage medication therapy, including prescribing, titrating, and discontinuing medications, in order to achieve therapeutic goals. In some count...

Authors: Adam J. Rose, Daniel Witt, Carmil Azran and Ran Nissan

Did the events following the COVID-19 outbreak influence the incidents of violence against hospital staff?

During the COVID-19 outbreak, (March 1 - June 15, 2020) citizens expressed sympathy and gratitude towards medical staff through the media, while the entire hospital staff faced the same danger of infection as ...

Authors: Fuad Basis, Kobi Moskovitz and Shay Tzafrir

Heat stroke: knowledge and practices of medical professionals in pediatric emergency medicine departments – a survey study

Heat stroke is a life-threatening condition affecting children worldwide. Rapid cooling remains the most important feature of emergency management. The accepted preferred method of evaporative cooling in the E...

Authors: Noy Cohen-Ronen, Ayelet Rimon, Neta Cohen and Tali Capua

WhatsApp Tele-Medicine – usage patterns and physicians views on the platform

Telemedicine has become an integral part of health care delivery in recent years. One of the leading applications for this use is WhatsApp — a free smartphone application that allows instant messaging with pi...

Authors: Edward Barayev, Omri Shental, Dotan Yaari, Elchanan Zloczower, Itai Shemesh, Michael Shapiro, Elon Glassberg and Racheli Magnezi

Ethnic and minority group differences in engagement with COVID-19 vaccination programmes – at Pandemic Pace; when vaccine confidence in mass rollout meets local vaccine hesitancy

Israel, the UK, the USA, and some other wealthier countries lead in the implementation of COVID-19 vaccine mass vaccination programmes. Evidence from these countries indicates that their ethnic minorities coul...

Authors: John A. Reid and Mzwandile A. Mabhala

Food allergy safety: a descriptive report of changing policy in a single large medical center

Food allergy can result in life-threatening anaphylaxis and is considered an increasing public health burden. Hospitalized patients are dependent on the hospital menu to meet their nutritional needs; thus, err...

Authors: Rivki Harari, Orly Toren, Yuval Tal and Tair Ben-Porat

How, when, and for whom: decisions regarding remote neuropsychological assessment during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic

Neuropsychological assessment provides crucial information about cognitive, behavioral, and socioemotional functioning in medical, educational, legal, and social contexts. During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, th...

Authors: Ayala Bloch, Sari Maril and Gitit Kavé

Availability, timeliness, documentation and quality of consultations among hospital departments: a prospective, comparative study

Many in-patients require care from practitioners in various disciplines. Consultations most probably have significant implications for hospitalization outcomes.

Authors: Amir Jarjou’i, Joseph Mendlovic, Ziv Dadon, Marwan Abu Sneineh, Meir Tabi, George Kalak, Yousef R. Jarallah, Amos M. Yinnon and Gabriel Munter

Health behaviors of medical students decline towards residency: how could we maintain and enhance these behaviors throughout their training

We examined health behaviors and perceptions among medical students and compared them with the results of a previous survey among residents and senior physicians.

Authors: Rachel Wilf-Miron, Ilya Kagan and Mor Saban

Correction to: Obstetric anesthesia services in Israel snapshot (OASIS) study: a 72 hour cross-sectional observational study of workforce supply and demand

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via the original article.

Authors: Gal Schtrechman-Levi, Alexander Ioscovich, Jacob Hart, Jacob Bar, Ronit Calderon-Margalit, Eshel A. Nir and Yehuda Ginosar

Falls and fear of falling among Israeli community-dwelling older people: a cross-sectional national survey

Falls and fear of falling are a major problem for older people and a leading cause of functional decline and institutionalization. There is limited data on the prevalence of falls in a 12-month period among Is...

Authors: Dvora Frankenthal, Mor Saban, Dolev Karolinsky, Miri Lutski, Shelley Sternberg, Iris Rasooly, Irit Laxer and Inbar Zucker

Multinational dietary changes and anxiety during the coronavirus pandemic-findings from Israel

Increased anxiety was frequently reported during the 2020 global COVID-19 pandemic. An association between anxiety and increased body weight has been documented. Identifying associations between diet quality a...

Authors: Vered Kaufman-Shriqui, Daniela Abigail Navarro, Olga Raz and Mona Boaz

Suicide rates and risk factors for suicide among Israeli immigrants from Ethiopia (1985–2017)

Suicide rates among Ethiopian immigrants to Israel (EI) are relatively high. This study sought to identify suicide-risk factors in this population in order to suggest some potentially preventive measures to me...

Authors: Rafael Youngmann, Nelly Zilber, Ziona Haklai and Nehama Goldberger

A study of ethnic, gender and educational differences in attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccines in Israel – implications for vaccination implementation policies

Vaccines for COVID-19 are currently available for the public in Israel. The compliance with vaccination has differed between sectors in Israel and the uptake has been substantially lower in the Arab compared w...

Authors: Manfred S. Green, Rania Abdullah, Shiraz Vered and Dorit Nitzan

Determinants of Israeli consumers’ decision to use food label information more frequently: a national survey study

Food labeling to encourage healthier food choices may have positive long-term effects. Yet previous studies point to challenges in terms of how consumers understand and use labeling information. The current st...

Authors: Shosh Shahrabani

Obstetric anesthesia services in Israel snapshot (OASIS) study: a 72 hour cross-sectional observational study of workforce supply and demand

We planned an observational study to assess obstetric anesthesia services nationwide. We aimed to assess the effect of the anesthesia workload/workforce ratio on quality and safety outcomes of obstetric anesth...

Authors: Gal Schtrechman-Levi, Alexander Ioscovich, Jacob Hart, Jacob Bar, Ronit Calderon-Margalit, Eshel A. Nir and Yehuda Ginosar

Changes in the activity levels and financing sources of Israel’s private for-profit hospitals in the wake of reforms to the public-private divide

The Israeli National Health Insurance Law provides permanent residents with a basket of healthcare services through non-profit public health insurance plans, independently of the individual’s ability to pay. S...

Authors: Royi Barnea, Adi Niv-Yagoda and Yossi Weiss

Correction to: The quality of primary care provided to the elderly in Israel

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via the original article.

Authors: Rachel Podell, Vered Kaufman-Shriqui, Yael Wolff Sagy, Orly Manor and Arie Ben-Yehuda

Patient-centered care: achieving higher quality by designing care through the patient’s eyes

Patient centered care requires that health care organizations and health care professionals actively understand what patients value. Fortunately, there are methods for gaining that understanding. But, they nee...

Authors: Susan Edgman-Levitan and Stephen C. Schoenbaum

Publisher Correction to: The rollout of the COVID-19 vaccination: what can Canada learn from Israel?

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via the original article.

Authors: Gregory P. Marchildon

Early Covid-19 vaccination rollout: a commentary from England

Early, rapid, nationally orchestrated vaccine rollout has been a feature in the response to the global coronavirus pandemic in Israel and the UK, two countries with long established, universal socialised healt...

Authors: Fiona Sim

Excess mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic in Israel, March–November 2020: when, where, and for whom?

Excess all-cause mortality has been used in many countries as an estimate of mortality effects from COVID-19. What was the excess mortality in Israel in 2020 and when, where and for whom was this excess?

Authors: Ziona Haklai, Miriam Aburbeh, Nehama Goldberger and Ethel-Sherry Gordon

Actionable lessons for the US COVID vaccine program

When attempting to provide lessons for other countries from the successful Israeli COVID-19 vaccine experience, it is important to distinguish between the modifiable and non-modifiable components identified in...

Authors: Gary L. Freed