Entrepreneur Ariel Zylbersztejn, originally from Mexico, has spent years focusing on how best to take care of ill and elderly people at home. He developed a Startup in his native Mexico, called Paz Mental ("Peace of Mind" in Spanish), and also a platform called ANA that offers an artificial intelligence-driven management tool for companies that provide homecare services.
But not having come from a medical background, Zylbersztejn wanted to understand the world of healthcare professionals better, and when he learned about Reichman University's MBA in Healthcare Innovation, he knew it was the ideal program for him.
It was also a good opportunity for him to do something he had always wanted to do, and move to Israel, which he did with his wife and three young children. He said the experience was fulfilling and successful from the beginning. As well as learning about innovation and the Israeli healthcare system, he has been able to network with people in the industry.
“In one of the first lectures, I learned that 70 percent of admitted patients at Sheba Medical Center [Israel's largest hospital] would be dependent on homecare upon their release from hospital. This was eye-opening to me. I understood that I had a lot to learn here in Israel and at the same time, with my software platform ANA, I had a lot to contribute," he said.
During his practicum, which is a major part of the MBA program, he interned at Schneider Children's Medical Center, and said, “I was able to assess the requirements for Schneider’s home-care platform; I interviewed their entire management, and together we built a valuable proposition.”
Zylbersztejn said he also had the opportunity to build up an immensely valuable professional network. “I was able to meet with leading CEOs, founders, and experts in the field, as well as my colleagues in the MBA, who were talented and driven and came from all over the world. We are still in touch and some have even joined my company as well as become my mentors and friends."
He said he had learned about technological advances through the program that are helping his company expand in Latin America and assist local hospitals and governments in providing better quality homecare.
After completing the MBA program, Zylbersztejn was the winner of the prestigious Silver Economy Challenge of the Inter-American Development Bank. The Silver Economy Challenge seeks to identify innovative solutions in the areas of health services and long-term care.
“The MBA provided me with a deep understanding of the weaknesses in the healthcare industry, and a better understanding of the needs of the different stakeholders. The program allowed me to see the weaknesses as opportunities that, combined with the right technology and people, could really add value to people’s lives," Zylbersztejn said.
According to Prof. Varda Liberman, Head of the MBA in Healthcare Innovation, "Healthcare systems are going through enormous changes worldwide and with the COVID-19, these changes were accelerated. There is an immediate need for a complete redesign that will necessitate innovative multidisciplinary solutions, leveraging technology, science, information systems, and national policy. Our MBA program in Healthcare Innovation, offered by Reichman University’s Arison School of Business, in collaboration with Israel’s largest hospital, the Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, is designed to prepare the future leaders of the healthcare industry to develop solutions that will enable the needed redesign. The program brings together all the unique advantages of Israeli innovation, to provide our students with the tools and skills necessary to understand the complexity of the healthcare world today. The program brings together all the key players of the ecosystem - those coming from the healthcare system, engineering, entrepreneurship, AI, law, biomedicine, pharmacology, high tech, investment, management, and public policy".
For more information: Reichman University
This article was written in cooperation with Reichman University