Artificial intelligence (AI) is coming to Eagle Ridge Hospital in Port Moody.
But it’s not smart enough to poke around your innards — yet.
Eagle Ridge, along with Burnaby Hospital, will soon begin using a new AI tool that allows doctors to better understand patient volumes and trends in their emergency and medicine departments.
The tool, which was developed by Fraser Health and Deloitte Canada with funding from a $1.5-million Scale AI award, uses electronic medical records to analyze patient volumes and needs to help determine staffing requirements.
And, as its knowledge base grows, it will be able to account for variations like flu season and even local events like concerts and festivals that might boost hospital visits.
“Eventually, we will see the tool becoming more sophisticated,” said Sheazin Premji, the executive director for Fraser Health’s Centre for Advanced Analytics, Data Science and Innovation, in a news release.
While the tool was being piloted at Burnaby Hospital in July, it was able to predict surge demands with 91 per cent accuracy a day out and 81 per cent accuracy up to seven days in advance.
“Clinicians can use AI in a practical way to benefit themselves and patients,” said Dr. Neil Barclay, an emergency physician at Burnaby Hospital, adding being able to staff according to anticipated need allows doctors to provide better care to their patients, creating “a more sustainable health care system in the long run.”
