- Why do people choose Israeli hospitals?
- Top popular specialties in Israeli hospitals
- Top hospitals in Israel
- Top 3 Israeli doctors
- Costs of treatment in Israel
- How to get a treatment in Israel
How has Israel become one of the most popular medical destinations? Annually, medical tourism in Israel gets more popular among international patients from Eastern Europe and the USA. According to the Patients Beyond Borders, an expert resource in medical travel, Israel accepted about 45,000 foreign patients only in 2017. International patients choose this country for high-success rates, innovations in medicine, experienced doctors and other special reasons you will see in our article. Let’s find out Israel’s popularity right now!
TOP 5 reasons why people pick medical tourism in Israel
Affordable Healthcare costs
In comparison to American hospitals, Israeli medical facilities provide at 60% lower costs for treatment. However, the quality of healthcare meets the highest world medical standards. Israeli doctors have practiced in the USA and Western Europe, that’s why they treat patients according to international protocols and use the equipment of the latest generations.
Experienced doctors
Israeli specialists are experts in neuro-navigation, computer-assisted brain surgery, stereotactic radiosurgery, endoscopic, awake brain surgery, and deep brain stimulation. Israeli specialists cooperate with their colleagues from the USA and study innovative methods of treatment in oncology, neurology, and cardiology. Some doctors are involved in clinical trials and provide their patients with new treatment methods, for example in blood cancer. Read more about top Israeli doctors below.
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International treatment standards
Israeli medical centers have advanced equipment for radiosurgery, as Novalis TrueBeam STx to treat even hard-to-cure tumors; for minimally invasive surgery — the da Vinci System and CyberKnife 6 to make accurate operations with fewer side effects; for IVF — the Embryoscope — device allows specialists monitoring the progress of eggs fertilization without removing them from the incubator.
All hospitals provide comfortable wards, well-equipped surgery theatres. Friendly and polite support staff speaks fluent English and other foreign languages including French, German, Russian, etc. Some clinics offer interpreter service if required. Such little things mean a lot for those who have a medical travel to Israel.
Innovative methods
Israeli medical centers are involved into new clinical trials in oncology, hematology oncology, neurosurgery, and bone marrow transplant. International patients have chances to get the latest innovative treatments depending on their cases. For example, specialists carried out successful 3D printed vertebra transplant for a 19-years-old patient — this procedure was the first in Israel and in the world.
“A strong young man came to us, with an image that clearly showed a fracture of the last lumbar vertebra, L5 (lower part of the spine). The cause of the fracture was a benign tumor” says Dr. Zvi Lidar, the Head of the Spine Department at Sourasky. “A patient complained of unbearable pains, so we immediately took him to the operation room.”
The transplanted vertebra was 100% compatible and completely identical to the replaced one, and the patient has totally recovered in a week after surgery, the young patient can stand, sit, and walk without difficulties.
Soft and comfortable climate
Israel has a quite favorable sea climate: in spring it’s on average 20°C, autumn and winter are mild with average temperature 13-22 °C, but the summer is hot enough, up to 30°C — doctors do not recommend patients with myeloma, hypertension, and arrhythmia to visit Israel in summer.
According to the IMTJ (International Medical Travel Journal), the leading medical care in Israel resource is Dead Sea treatment. It is trendy, especially among patients with skin diseases, as psoriasis and seborrheic dermatitis — minerals, as magnesium, sodium, and bromide, in water and mud draw out the toxins and exfoliate the skin. People from all over the world come to Israel for heliotherapy (sun therapy), climatotherapy, and thalassotherapy (sea therapy).
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Oncology
Cancer hospitals in this country have achieved 90% average success rate of treatment. Israeli oncologists study over 10 years overseas before starting their practice. They provide innovations in chemotherapy, radiotherapy using enhanced linear accelerators to save patient’s healthy tissues and cells.
The researchers from Israel have developed new genetic therapy as CAR T-cell, approved by the FDA (Food and Drugs Administration) in 2018. It has become a breakthrough in the oncology world — patient’s immune cells produce the antibodies destroying cancer cells.
Most Israeli specialists perform sparing surgeries including laparoscopic methods — after them, patients rehabilitate faster.
Hematology oncology
Patients with blood cancer come to Israel to treat leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma. Israeli doctors apply the latest treatments as targeted therapy, immunotherapy, and gene therapy approved by the FDA — the complete remission rate after being treated with gene therapy is over 80%, much higher than other clinical trials.
Israeli hematologists perform successful bone marrow transplants in adults and children — allogeneic (a related donor stem cells) and autologous (unrelated, patient’s stem cells). According to the Canadian Cancer Society, after allogeneic stem cell transplant within remission, survival rate increases to 30%–50%. Patients after this procedure have 80% of chances for long-lasting remission. Those people who underwent autologous stem cell transplant had a lower survival rate.
Check out hospitals & costs for lymphoma treatment in Israel
Most clinics have Pediatric Hematology-oncology departments to treat children with benign and malignant blood tumors. Hematology oncologists provide combined treatment using chemotherapy followed by bone marrow transplants — young patients have more chances to achieve the remission faster.
IVF
Women and couples from all around the world come to Israel for IVF (In Vitro Fertilization).
According to Assuta IVF Department statistics, Israel has a higher fertility rate than the USA — IVF procedures give 4% of all Israeli children, but the USA — only 1% (about 730,000 children) of American ones.
Israeli specialists use such a procedure, as preimplantation genetic screening (PGS) to define the healthiest embryos for implantation to increase pregnancy possibility. Married couples receive a chance to become parents due to IntraCytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI) — the microinjection of sperm into an egg under the microscope. Doctors apply the procedure in case of low sperm count and if the previous attempts failed. 50-80% is the success rates after ICSI — the greatest benefit after the procedure is a baby.
IVF in Israel is quite cheaper than in the United States — check the table below.
Country | IVF cost |
|---|---|
| USA | starting $20,000-30,000 |
| Germany | starting $7,300* |
| Israel | starting $5,000-6,000 |
*If you choose a treatment in Germany, be ready to pay for it in Euro. IVF in Germany costs approximately €6,500.
Neurosurgery
Israeli doctors successfully perform micro-, radio-, cerebrovascular, stereotactic surgeries, pediatric neurosurgery, operations on spinal and brain tumors. Foreign patients come to treat hydrocephalus, epilepsy, and Parkinson’s disease there. According to the hospitals’ statistics, up to 84% success treatment rate is possible using of minimally invasive procedures in neurosurgery.
Cardiac Surgery
The surgeons perform coronary artery shunting, valve replacement using minimally invasive methods, off-pump bypass surgeries (without a heart-lung machine). Foreign patients treat such cardiac diseases as:
- Atrial tachycardia
- Coronary arteries narrowing
- Heart tumors
- Cardiac failure, etc.
98% is success rate of cardiac surgeries according to the Israeli hospitals’ statistics.
In Israel, surgeons use minimally invasive cardiac procedures to avoid damaging of nerves, muscles, reduce the risk of infection and bleeding. Such surgeries fasten the recovery and minimize scarring. However, these methods are not for everyone with heart disease — before the procedures, doctors must examine the patient.
TOP 3 clinics for medical travel to Israel
Sourasky Hospital
One of the biggest state medical center in Israel accredited by JCI (Joint Commission International), an official organization evaluating American clinics’ healthcare quality.Foreign patients choose the following specialties at Sourasky: neurosurgery, IVF, cardiac surgery, and oncology.
98%is the success rate for heart surgeries according to the medical center’s statistics.
Israeli scientists have found a way to treat blood cancer in children. Prof. Zelig Eshhar has developed CAR-T cell therapy — this kind of gene therapy is able to treat leukemia and non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas in adults and children. Such a therapy boosts the patient’s own cells to destroy cancer cells more intensively than with immunotherapy. 85% is a success rate of CAR-T cell treatment in children with acute leukemia. Now Prof. Eshhar studies whether such a therapy can treat any other type of cancer.
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Assuta
That is a prestigious private medical center specialized in oncology, cardiac surgery, IVF, neurosurgery. Assuta provides international patients with healthcare of the highest international standards, which were approved by JCI accreditation.
The hospital specialists use the latest medical equipment as RUTH and MarginProbe mammography devices without radiation, which help to detect exactly if the tumor is benign or malignant.
Moreover, one of the most high-demand specialization in Assuta is IVF. Doctors perform a quarter of Israel’s 30,000 IVF procedures — it’s 7,000 cycles annually. Before the trip, a patient can choose an appropriate doctor.
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Rambam
That is the 5th largest center for medical care in Israel where over 90,000 patients receive proper treatment mostly in oncology, cardiac surgery, and neurosurgery. Prof. Aaron Ciechanover and Dr. Avram Hershko, the Nobel Prize laureates in chemistry, treat their patients at Rambam.
Rambam is the only hospital in Israel where specialists use safe non-invasive treatment with MRI-guided FUS (Focused Ultrasound) for patients with neurological disorders, as Parkinson’s disease and Essential Tremor.
Here specialists perform over 150 stem cell (bone marrow) transplants annually. Furthermore, Rambam researchers carry out over 1,600 scientific studies to make successful innovative treatment methods and invent novel drugs.
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TOP 3 doctors in Israel
Ofer Merimsky
Prof. Merimsky has about 25 years of experience in sarcoma treatment. 92% of tumors have been detected at early stages thanks to Dr. Merimsky. The professor has improved his skills in radiotherapy and brachytherapy training in New York Hospital (the USA). Merimsky M.D. is a member of the Israeli Society for Cancer Control and the American Scientific Cancer Society.
Dror Levin
Prof. Dror Levin treats malignant blood tumors in young patients. Being a father of 5 children, Dr. Levin is an attentive and sympathetic world-class specialist. The professor says:“Every sick child is the precious thing we must fight for”. Dr. Levin was among the first specialists who started to use immunotherapy for children and achieved significant results.
Shlomi Constantini
Dr. Constantini is a pediatric neurosurgeon specialized in brain and spinal cord tumors in children and newborns. Dr. Shlomi Constantini often informs parents about early preventive brain diagnostic using interactive videos — helps to identify brain tumor at early stages. Dr. Constantini owns numerous awards for his neurosurgery research.
Treatment costs in Israel
Oncologist's consultation | starting $500 |
Chemotherapy | starting $650 |
Hematologist's consultation | starting $720 |
PET CT | starting $1,600 |
IVF | starting $5,000 |
CT of the chest | starting $320 |
The costs presented in a table are approximate. Contact Bookimed doctor-coordinator to receive exact cost for a treatment you are interested in.
Costs of medical tourism in Israel