November 9, 2026, Tel Aviv: Google.org, Google’s philanthropic arm, and Clalit Health Services, Israel’s largest healthcare organization, today announced a two-year grant that will enable Clalit to develop and launch an AI-powered “Digital Front Door”, an intelligent conversational assistant designed to make healthcare services more accessible, particularly for patients from diverse communities.
The system will function as an intelligent digital layer, accompanying patients throughout their entire healthcare journey and providing continuous, personalized support. Powered by Google Cloud’s secure infrastructure and advanced AI technology, the comprehensive multilingual assistant will help patients better understand their healthcare needs, prepare for medical appointments, and manage follow-up care in their native languages. By leveraging voice-based tools, Clalit will be able to communicate with patients through devices they already use, ensuring that limited internet access or the lack of a smartphone does not prevent anyone from receiving care.
Bridging Healthcare Gaps
Recognizing that Israel’s diverse communities speak a wide range of languages and dialects, Clalit is committed to ensuring equitable healthcare services for all patients. Traditional digital platforms rely on written, formal language, which can exclude people who primarily communicate through local spoken dialects. As a result, independent online appointment booking rates remain low. By leveraging Large Language Models (LLMs) and Google Gemini, the system will offer speech recognition tailored to these local dialects and cultural nuances, enabling patients to easily complete intake, triage, and appointment-booking processes in the language they speak.
In addition, the system will address accessibility barriers faced by patients without internet connectivity, as well as those using devices that restrict access to standard web applications and SMS messages. By integrating an interactive voice-based AI system directly into landlines and standard mobile phones, Clalit will bypass these communication barriers altogether. These tailored outreach strategies are designed to increase enrollment in digital services and improve pre-appointment confirmations across a broader range of communities.
Secure and Scalable Cloud Infrastructure
To protect patient confidentiality, Clalit employs a Zero Trust security framework and stringent data privacy measures. All patient interactions with the conversational AI system are encrypted, stripped of personally identifiable information, and fully anonymized.
Following an initial pilot, the system will be expanded to a nationwide deployment. Looking ahead, Clalit plans to make its voice AI architecture and cultural adaptation frameworks publicly available as an open-source model for public healthcare, enabling public health systems around the world to replicate the model.
“What makes Clalit a unique and leading healthcare organization on the international stage is the human mosaic and rich diversity of our patients,” said Prof. Eytan Wirtheim, Director General of Clalit Health Services. “Our commitment to every individual, from every community and background, is at the very heart of everything we do. The support of Google.org and Google Cloud enables us to harness the world’s most advanced technology to ensure that every patient receives the best possible care, in their own language and in a way that is tailored to their needs. The model we are developing here in Israel is intended to eventually become an open-source architecture, available to healthcare organizations around the world, allowing them to replicate the model and help ensure accessible healthcare for everyone.”
“AI has the potential to address some of the most significant barriers to accessing healthcare,” said Boaz Maoz, Managing Director of Google Cloud Israel. “By implementing secure conversational AI tailored to local dialects and unique communication channels, Clalit is ensuring that the benefits of digital healthcare reach every community. We are proud to support this initiative through our cloud infrastructure and to help establish a scalable, replicable model that can enable equitable and inclusive healthcare around the world.”
