The Israel Export Institute believes that there is great potential for
the development of tele-medicine in Israel.
According to Mira Richman, head of communications and tele-medicine at
the Israel Export Institute, the area of tele-medicine embodies the
industries in which Israel is considered the leader: medical equipment,
communications and information technologies. In light of this, the
Israel Export Institute established initial evaluation of this area in
1998, headed by Dr. Hamutal Meiri of Tele-Marpeh.
The evaluation found
that today the tele-medicine market is valued at $9 million and
it has been growing at a rate of 20 percent per year for the last five years.
The forecast predicts a continuation of this growth due to the increase
in longevity, increased demand for quality medicine and the combination
of information technology with the strategic commitment of controlling
health expenses.
The Institute has
established a forum to promote this field and has organized a delegation
of companies to visit Scandinavia in order to investigate the
possibilities of joining existing projects and creating joint ventures.
The delegation will include personnel from medical, communications and
software companies, who will visit Sweden, Finland and Norway.
The
Institute has designated these countries as the strategic objective for
the export of Israeli long-distance medical technology. They are considered a strategic objective that matches the potential of Israeli industry,
its intensity and the directions of its development.
