The University of Adelaide, The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, and the Health and Information Collaborative have created a tool that uses AI algorithms to predict when general surgery patients are about to be discharged. The Adelaide Score has been shown to predict discharges with an accuracy of more than 80%. Particularly, preparing patients for discharge may be extremely challenging and calls for a lot of administrative work on the part of healthcare professionals to guarantee that every patient can be released safely.
The healthcare industry is constantly looking for ways to improve patient care, enhance outcomes, and reduce costs. With the increasing demand for medical care, managing patient flow has become a major challenge for healthcare providers. In particular, preparing patients for discharge can be quite complicated, requiring a lot of organizational work behind the scenes by healthcare staff members to ensure that every patient can be discharged safely. However, a new AI-based tool called the Adelaide Score, may soon make this process easier and more efficient.
The Adelaide Score is an AI-based tool that reliably forecasts when a general surgery patient is going to be discharged from the hospital. It was created by a team of researchers from the University of Adelaide, The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, and the Health and Information Collaboration. According to a press release, the instrument may undergo a statewide testing later this year.
The Adelaide Score is based on AI algorithms that were developed using records of hospital stays of almost 9,000 South Australian general surgery patients. It also referenced “tens of thousands” of ward round note timings and involved such inputs as vital signs and blood test data. In a study, these algorithms were found to have predicted the discharge of patients within 12 and 24 hours with over 80% accuracy.
Managing patient flow in and out of the hospital is one of the major challenges that health providers deal with each day. Using AI to predict possible discharge will allow healthcare teams and patients to begin this process earlier, while also helping free up limited hospital beds and further reducing pressure on overwhelmed emergency departments. Until now, there is no such tool that can accurately predict patient discharge in real-time within the Australian health system.
The Adelaide Score has the potential to streamline and simplify discharge planning after surgery for everyone in the healthcare system, including doctors, nurses, and most importantly, the patient and their loved ones. According to Dr. Joshua Kovoor, a researcher and Resident Medical Officer at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, the Adelaide Score can be implemented in any hospital around the world, can result in cost savings, can be integrated into EMR, and can identify hospital bed capacity.
The development of the Adelaide Score is a significant step forward for the healthcare industry. AI-based tools have the potential to transform healthcare in numerous ways, from improving patient outcomes to reducing costs and increasing efficiency. The Adelaide Score is just one example of how AI can be used to improve patient care and streamline healthcare processes. With further development and refinement, we will likely see more AI-based tools being used in healthcare in the coming years.
