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Skip page contentSchneider Children’s Becomes the First Hospital in Israel to Implement an AI-Based Clinical Decision-Support System
“We have succeeded in developing a system inspired by the day-to-day practice of pediatricians, which provides immediate and reliable answers to clinical questions drawn from the hospital’s extensive body of knowledge. It enables clinicians to deliver the most accurate and precise care for children, while supporting responsible and well-informed use of artificial intelligence. The system is designed to be a tool clinicians can truly trust,” said Dr. Shai Yitzhaki of Schneider Children’s Medical Center of Israel, who initiated the project
Date: 30.10.25 | Update: 30.10.25
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The innovative AI-driven system “PANDA” (Pediatric AI Navigation and Decision Assistant) is now being piloted for the first time in Israel at Schneider Children’s Medical Center of Israel, part of Clalit Group. Developed jointly by Clalit’s Innovation and Digital Divisions and Schneider Children’s, the system offers doctors instant, reliable support for clinical decision-making, drawing on the hospital’s unique database of medical protocols.
It was the daily challenge of searching through hundreds of clinical protocols that inspired the project. Schneider Children’s holds over 600 protocols, each department and unit with its own set of guidelines. Until now, accessing them was slow and cumbersome, involving manual searches that consumed valuable time – even when treatment decisions based on these protocols were critical.
The initiative for the project came from Dr. Shai Yitzhaki, then a pediatric resident at Schneider Children’s and now a specialist physician. Developed through a unique collaboration between Schneider Children’s and Clalit’s Innovation and Digital Divisions, the PANDA system was designed to help physicians quickly navigate the hospital’s vast body of medical knowledge. Reliable, high-quality information is essential in pediatrics, where doctors care for patients ranging from preemies and newborns to adolescents, and deal with a wide variety of conditions – from trauma and infectious disease to oncology and intensive care.
PANDA addresses this need through an easy and accessible interface for clinicians, allowing them to interact with the hospital’s protocol repository via a chatbot. Medical teams can ask clinical questions in natural language and instantly receive accurate, reliable answers drawn directly from the hospital’s local protocols.
Unlike many systems developed by external tech companies, PANDA was built as a truly clinical initiative, shaped through close collaboration between physicians, technologists, and innovation experts. Pediatricians at Schneider Children’s took part in every stage of development – from identifying needs and defining questions to integrating the system within the medical center. The underlying RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) technology ensures that all responses are drawn exclusively from the hospital’s internal protocols.
To ensure quality and relevance, more than 500 dedicated questions were written by pediatric physicians working on the ground, with reference answers defined for over 100 of them. The professional framework for information-based medicine and AI at Clalit Innovation is led by Prof. Noa Dagan, as part of the organization’s commitment to developing and implementing accurate, responsible clinical AI solutions.
“Artificial intelligence holds tremendous promise in medicine, but it also carries significant risks,” says Dr. Rotem Gershon from the Department of Data-Driven Medicine and AI at Clalit Innovation. “The challenge is to develop AI-based tools that enhance care without compromising quality or patient safety. A project like PANDA involves dozens of development components and requires an exceptional level of excellence – both medical and technological – and, most importantly, their seamless integration within the complex environment of a children’s hospital. In the case of PANDA, I’m proud to say we chose the right path, and the work done here is expected to support hundreds of physicians across Clalit Group.”
The project’s infrastructure and technology development were led by Clalit’s Digital Division, which oversaw privacy protection, data leak prevention, and end-to-end information security. “This is a continuous process of improving safety, quality, and the value the system provides to physicians,” says Nir Shahar, Head of Data and Analytics at Clalit Group. “We are currently developing a mobile version that will give physicians direct and convenient access from their personal phones.”
According to Dr. Shai Yitzhaki of Schneider Children’s, who initiated the system: “We developed a tool rooted in the everyday reality of pediatricians. It provides immediate, reliable answers to clinical questions from the hospital’s knowledge base, enabling us to deliver the most accurate care for children. The system allows for responsible and informed use of artificial intelligence and is designed to be fully trusted by clinicians.”
A pilot of the PANDA system is currently underway at Schneider Children’s, with an official launch planned in the coming months. Although the system was originally designed for residents, senior physicians have also expressed interest in using it. Dr. Havatzelet Yarden-Bilavsky, a senior physician responsible for clinical protocols at Schneider Children’s, joined the development team and is leading the project’s implementation at the hospital.
According to Dr. Shirly Saar, Head of Schneider Children’s Innovation Center:
“The Innovation Center at Schneider Children’s is the only one in Israel dedicated entirely to advancing pediatric medicine. We harness cutting-edge science and technology to heal sick children and help today’s children become tomorrow’s healthy adults.
Our ecosystem includes startups developing treatments for childhood diseases that currently have no cure, new platforms for drug development, and medical devices designed to make medical care less painful, less frightening, and more personalized for every child.
The center also supports innovations created by hospital teams to address challenges from the field and invites all innovators in pediatric health to join our PedTech community – for guidance, collaboration, and development supported by real-world data.”
About Clalit Innovation
As part of Clalit Group, Clalit Innovation leads the transformation of healthcare in Israel, advancing proactive and preventive medicine through the power of data, technology, and science. It operates a nationwide network of innovation centers across hospitals and community clinics, advancing collaborations with startups, high-tech companies, academic institutions, and international partners.
Building on Clalit Groups’ vast medical data repositories - among the largest and most comprehensive in the world – Clalit Innovation develops breakthrough medical solutions that protect patient privacy and safety, integrating seamlessly into everyday clinical care to promote better health for all.
PANDA was developed in response to the everyday challenges faced by pediatricians navigating more than 600 clinical protocols across the hospital’s units.
The Jerusalem Post - 29.10.25
The Jerusalem Post - 29.10.25
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