Sheba Impact CEO Avner Halperin discussed how AI and telehealth are becoming increasingly important as healthcare systems face staffing shortages and growing patient demand. He said AI can help expand access to care by handling tasks like patient intake, triage, and routine conversations before a clinician becomes involved, allowing doctors and specialists to focus more of their time on patients who need urgent attention. Halperin pointed to the growing use of “conversational technologies” in healthcare and specifically highlighted Hippocratic AI as an example of a company already using AI to contact patients ahead of appointments, gather information, and answer common questions to make physician interactions more efficient.
Halperin also argued that healthcare systems are moving too slowly in adopting AI technologies, despite the potential for AI to improve efficiency and expand high-quality care to underserved populations. He emphasized that AI should work alongside clinicians rather than replace them, with physicians still making final medical decisions while AI handles portions of the workload. According to Halperin, AI can help prioritize patients, reduce lengthy intake processes, and improve healthcare accessibility worldwide, especially in remote or underserved regions. He suggested that broader AI adoption could eventually help narrow care-quality gaps between major healthcare hubs and areas with limited access to medical expertise.