Maccabi's ICT system is geared to providing decision support for its health care providers as well as its members. While this system is continuously evolving and growing more sophisticated over time, one of the earliest systems implemented were the systems for on-line consultation:

Imaging Consultation Center

With the continuing and rapid development of new technologies, it is often difficult for the physician to be certain of which of the imaging modalities is the most appropriate for his patient – CT, MRI, PET, PET-CT, or PET-MRI.

If the physician thinks that perhaps one of the above tests is called for, he may relay his referral on-line to the Imaging Consultation Center, with all additional necessary information about the patient as well as results of previous tests.

 

This information will be assessed by experts who will then respond on line with an "approval" of the proposed test or a suggestion as to the more appropriate and effective modality for diagnosing his patient. This system may also be used for administrative preauthorization.

 

 

New and more sophisticated drugs are entering the market on an almost daily basis and it is difficult for every physician to be completely updated on every drug. The Maccabi system provides the physician with two types of decision supports. One is instantaneous access by "clicking" on the name of the drug - directly from the EHR of the patient and/or the electronic prescription to "Medic" – an on line digital drug compendium, constantly updated, that provides him with basic information on the drug – its pharmacological makeup, indications and contraindications for use, recommended dosage and other relevant information.

 

The second support service is digital on-line access to the Drug Consultation Center, which enables him to relay information on the specific patient and to obtain expert recommendation as to the drug of choice for his patient.

 

Due to the level of specialization and sub-specialization in medicine, the community physician frequently has the need to refer a patient for specialty consultation in order to determine how best to proceed in diagnosing and/or treating the patient. In many cases, interaction between the attending physician and the specialist is all that is required and the consultation can be done virtually, saving valuable time for the referring physician, the patient and the specialist and enabling rapid and efficient treatment of the patient. Maccabi has developed a system for "virtual" consultation that enables the referring physician to send his questions and the relevant information to the specialist on-line and to receive the consultant's response on-line, often in "real time" while the patient is still in the clinic.