Israel approves AI platform to prioritize rising mental health cases

The Israeli Health Ministry has approved a new AI-driven system designed to help identify and prioritize the growing number of mental health cases in the country. The system enables decision-makers to organize care based on urgency and assessed conditions.

Mentaily, a startup founded in 2024, developed the LIV platform to address a shortage of mental health resources in Israel – an issue that has worsened following the widespread trauma following the Hamas Oct. 7, 2023, attack.

Dr. Asaf Caspi, deputy director of Sheba Medical Center’s psychiatric division and co-founder of the venture, emphasized that “the goal is not to replace the therapist, but to empower him.” Caspi explained that the tool is designed to help the clinician “to be more available for the patient, to look him in the eyes and not at the keyboard, to be more attentive and more empathetic.”

A study of 385 patients in Israel found a 90% agreement between the AI-driven system’s assessments and those of professional psychiatrists. The system also achieved a 96% detection rate for high-risk cases. In addition to its work in Israel, the company plans to expand into the U.S. market through cooperation with U.S. healthcare systems.

“After two years of intensive development and research, and two clinical studies involving hundreds of patients, receiving regulatory approval is real news,” Mentaily CEO and Co-founder Iris Stein said. 

“The Health Ministry’s approval is a significant milestone for Mentaily. The fact that the solution developed here in Israel is now also advancing toward implementation tracks and collaborations in the U.S. with government health and security bodies proves that Israeli innovation can turn a crisis into a point of light with international impact,” she assessed.

Avner Halperin, CEO of Sheba Impact and deputy director of Sheba’s ARC innovation arm, explained that “receiving regulatory approval for Mentaily’s technology demonstrates how work by clinicians alongside technology companies can produce a rapid solution to an acute national need.”

Looking ahead, Halperin predicted that the Health Ministry's approval is a stepping stone toward expanding to more health systems worldwide. 

Mentaily is not alone, as Israeli startup Rescue has also developed an app to provide mental healthcare for those in need. Rescue CEO and Founder Yael Comay explained the strategy behind the app. 

“I decided to build a tool, an app that will help people in a very simple and easy way, to give people emotional first aid,” Comay said.

“I want to help other people. I'm going to make something out of my bad experience – I'm going to take the lemons and make lemonade,” she added, revealing a day-long panic attack that she experienced in May 2023. 

Psychiatry experts have assessed that the atrocities committed by the Hamas terrorist organization in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, triggered the most severe wave of mental trauma in Israel’s modern history. 

Eli Cohen, CEO of Israel's leading Health Maintenance Organization Clalit, noted already in January 2024 a rapidly growing need for mental health services in Israel’s southern and northern war-affected areas. 

"As Israel's largest HMO, serving over 50% of the country's population, most of those displaced by the situation in the north and south are our patients. Given the growing number of mental health inquiries, we are taking proactive and rapid measures. This initiative, supported by the best professional standards, will swiftly and effectively expand our response to the current and future challenges," Cohen said.