Assuta Hospital

Having positioned itself as one of Israel’s leading medical services supplier and the best service provider in its field, Assuta has begun to utilize its brand’s assets via third party collaborations

Assuta - Israel’s largest and leading private hospitals and medical clinics chain owned by Maccabi Health Services, began as a cooperative founded by physicians from Germany who immigrated to Israel in the 5th Aliya [fifth wave of Jewish immigration]and in 1935 decided to establish a Private hospital named “Assuta”. From the start, the hospital was managed as a partnership of the 30 founding physicians who invested a sum of about 40 thousand Lira in the enterprise.

When the hospital was inaugurated it revolutionized the medical system by allowing its patients – as far back as 80 years ago – to select their own physicians. In 1979 Clal Insurance Company acquired the hospital and operated it for 15 years, after which it was acquired by Maccabi Health Services, Israel’s second largest HMO’s with more than two million members. In 2015 Assuta celebrated its 80th birthday.

Product Innovation

To encourage consumers to continue choosing Assuta whenever they are in need of a medical diagnosis or procedure, Assuta has launched a series of added value products designed to alleviate patients’ difficulties in dealing with the complex medical system:

Assuta’s experts’ center. During our lifetimes we all encounter medical situations requiring special attention. In such cases we don’t want to waste time, and we want to consult with leading experts in their fields, who possess the most relevant knowledge regarding the problem from which we are suffering, and its treatment.

But how will we know who is the most suitable expert for us and how will we get to this expert within a short period of time? It is exactly for this purpose that Assuta’s experts’ center has been established, as an innovative information center that assists patients in selecting the most suitable physician for their problem – and to schedule a quick appointment with the selected expert. This unique service, not offered anywhere else in Israel, assists thousands of patients every month.

Beyond the huge important of the center for patients themselves, Assuta’s ultimate goal is to create a faithful pool of customers who will turn to it whenever they are in need of medical examinations or treatment. The fast track diagnosis and inquiry unit. The process of diagnosing serious diseases may prove to be long and arduous for many patients. To address this pressing issue, Assuta has launched a service enabling patients to coordinate their entire diagnosis process within 72 hours.

Case management. Patients have trouble finding their way within the vast array of medical experts. Moreover, in some cases they need to deal with a large number of treating physicians and often find themselves lost in the process. To address this difficulty, Assuta has launched a case management service in which patients are assigned a single contact person at Assuta, who takes care of his or her case file including the various procedures and experts involved.

Docadvisor. When we need to undergo any type of medical procedure, selecting the most suitable physician is not an easy task, and patients often find themselves helpless in this process. To alleviate patients’ burden in the process of physician selection, this year Assuta has launched a new website – Docadvisor, which utilizes the wisdom of crowds in order to address this important task.

Following discharge from one of Assuta’s hospitals after surgery, each patient receives a text message in which he or she is asked to provide their opinion of their surgeon, in a number of aspects such as availability, service, professionalism and cost. The weighted results for each surgeon are presented on the site to aid patients in need of surgery in finding the most suitable surgeon for their needs, easily and transparently.

Timeline and Historical Background

1935

Assuta Hospital is established on Jabotinsky St. in Tel Aviv.

1994

Assuta is acquired by Maccabi Health Services [Kupat Holim Maccabi].

2005

The brand expands its presence throughout the country.

2009

Inauguration of Assuta Ramat Ha Hayal Hospital.

2014

Assuta’s School of Professionalism is opened.

2015

Assuta commences collaborations with insurance companies

2017

Scheduled inauguration of Assuta’s public hospital in Ashdod. Commencement of the construction of the new Assuta Hospital in Beer Sheva.

Assuta operates four hospitals (Haifa, Tel Aviv, Rishon LeZion and Beer Sheva) with surgical units, hospitalization wards, imaging equipment, dialysis units, intensive care, oncology units including advanced radiotherapy, hematology, outpatient wards and more. Assuta also operates medical units for diagnosis and ambulatory treatment: Diagnosis Center in Ashdod, Assuta Hashalom (Centered in Tel Aviv) and a Medical Center in Ra'anana. Assuta is a private, profit making company owned by Maccabi Health Services.

Assuta was founded in 1934 by 34 doctors from Central Europe, and began as a small private hospital in Tel Aviv with 74 beds. Assuta's vision, as it remains today, was to provide the first cutting edge private hospital, offering patients the ability to select their doctors. In the 1980s, Clal gradually became the main shareholder in Assuta in 1986 and in 1987, the company held an IPO on the TASE. Assuta's rapid growth from a single hospital to a chain of hospitals and clinics began in 2001. In 1994 Maccabi Health Services took over ownership. Maccabi acquired the hospital from Clal and merged Assuta's activities with Ramat Marpe, the franchise of hospitals and institutes that it was already operating, under the brand Assuta Medical Centers. Assuta has since operated as a business enterprise, reporting a positive balance sheet and investing profits in developing and expanding facilities and staff training. Hospitals were opened in Haifa and Beer Sheva and acquired in Rishon Lezion (formerly the American Medical Center).

Clinics and diagnostic centers were opened in Ashdod and Tel Aviv. In 2009, a new hospital opened in Ramat Hachayal, Tel Aviv, merging the hospitals in Petach Tikva and Tel Aviv.

Diagnosing and Imaging Institutes

Nearly all surgeries are performed in (over 500 procedures), including: cardiac surgery, neurosurgery (brain), complex general surgery, spinal, gynecology, urology, orthopedics, ENT, abdomen, ophthalmology, dermatology (MOHS) and more. In 2011, Assuta acquired the Da-Vinci robot used for laparoscopy surgery, mostly used in prostates and gynecological surgeries. The hospital is equipped with the most advanced catheterization laboratory, staffed by Israel's most senior specialists. Assuta leads Israeli medicine in areas such as minimal invasive surgery and guided imagery surgery. All operations and procedures are conducted by specialists, by appointment, and the hospital believes in the patient's right to choose their surgeon. The hospitals unique setup allows for less bureaucracy and fewer infections.

In November 2011, Assuta began operating a mobile MRI unit in four southern cities: Beer- Sheva, Dimona, Ashdod and Eilat, enabling residents to undergo the examination close to home. Assuta also operates a mobile mammogram unit in cooperation with the Association for the War Against Cancer.

Assuta sees its mobile medical project, which reaches over 15,000 women annually, as being of the highest national importance, contributing to raising awareness regarding preventative medicine.

Protecting Patient's Dignity

Assuta brings together medical practitioners that strive to provide patients with advanced treatment, allowing them to receive such treatment while maintain their self-dignity. Assuta employs first-rate medical specialists and is attentive to its clients changing needs. Assuta has established a school for professionalism where Assuta's core values are passed on to all employees.

Technological Expansion & Innovation

Assuta continues to offer advanced medical services, improving procedures and equipment to meet the prestigious international accreditation for the quality and safety of its medical services (JCI accreditation). Assuta facilities in Haifa, Ashdod, Rishon Lezion and Beer-Sheva have been recently renovated and additional medical services and operating rooms were added. Advanced robotics technology was purchased, oncology was equipped with two of the most advanced linear accelerators in the world to improve radiation therapy quality, and customer service was improved.

Medical Tourism

Assuta is expanding its range of medical services to tourists from Europe, North America, Africa and Asia, mainly in the fields of oncology, neurosurgery, cardiac surgery, orthopedics and general surgery. Most of the services are provided to the former Soviet Union citizens.

Future Plans

• Continued emphasis on professionalism and quality medicine.
• Placing customer service as the anchor of marketing strategy.
• Planning and constructing a public hospital in Ashdod.
• Construction of the second stage of Assuta Ramat Hachayal
• Planning construction of a hospital in Beer Sheva and Rishon Lezion
• Academization and promotion of various departments, R&D and teaching.