Hadassah Hospital Ein Kerem cardiologist Yitzhak Biton is determined to help family physicians learn to identify and treat their patients’ irregular heartbeats before the condition becomes dangerous.

“In many cases, we’re talking about patients already diagnosed with irregular heartbeats, but their local doctors need training in how to treat them,” says Dr. Biton. “An example is patients with atrial fibrillation. If they don’t receive anti-coagulation medication, they can have a stroke.”

During the 14 months of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Biton developed a community-based program that reached 280 family doctors and improved the treatment for as many as 500 patients.