Thanks to telemedicine, over a quarter of the appointments for the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery are now conducted remotely.

The Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Department at Sheba Medical Center has achieved a significant milestone: over 25% of appointments are now held remotely, eliminating the need for patients to travel to the hospital. Why deal with the hassle of traffic, fuel costs, parking, and waiting times when telemedicine consultations offer a convenient alternative?

The rapid progress, achieved in just six months, was a result of the collaborative efforts between Sheba Medical Center's virtual hospital, Sheba BEYOND, led by Dr. Galia Barkai, and the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, under the direction of Dr. Alex Dobriyan.
Sheba BEYOND was launched four years ago to offer Sheba patients remote medical services and improve their quality of care.

Dr. Barkai shares, "Our Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery department is leading the pack in using telemedicine. In just six months, nearly 30% of our clinic visits happened remotely - that's incredible. Instead of people having to come in, they get quality care right from their homes."

Dr. Dobriyan, the head of the Oral and Maxillofacial Department, mentioned that initially, like in any surgical department, there was a significant worry about not being able to physically examine patients needing surgery. However, upon deciding to test the service, they experienced three interesting phenomena: “First, many patients prefer not having to physically come to the hospital. Second, in just a few months, we identified more operations that could be done remotely, something we hadn't considered before. Third, the waiting room in our department, which isn't very big, had more space for people, making the clinic's atmosphere more relaxed.”

Dr. Dobriyan observes that remote services have a calming effect on patients. “The team has found patients receiving telehealth services to be more relaxed and less stressed. As a result, doctors enjoy providing remote treatment, making their work more enjoyable. Importantly, the clinic has not seen a decrease in patient numbers - in fact, they have even gone up.”

Dr. Barkai states, "This is another step that brings us closer to our vision: enabling everyone to receive treatment from Sheba's experts, no matter where they are located. We believe we can deliver this in every unit and department - and our job is to make this a reality.”