HARTFORD, Conn. — Hartford HealthCare is launching a new center for artificial intelligence specifically designed to improve health care, officials said.
The center is the first of its kind in New England and just one of a few across the United States.
"If the last few years have shown us anything, it’s that we have to challenge or think to be ready for what’s next or what’s coming," said Audrey Silver, the Nurse Manager in the Emergency Department at Hartford Hospital.
The goal, officials said, is for AI to help improve patient experience and operations in the hospital.
The center is a culmination of ongoing collaborations with institutions like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. The technology can reportedly predict COVID-19-related events, hospital stay length, patient conditions, secondary stroke events, and joint replacement surgery outcomes, along with optimizing nurse scheduling and operating room efficiency, according to Hartford HealthCare.
"It’s about transforming the care of our patients in a trustworthy and responsible way," said Barry Stein, the Chief Innovation Officer.
The efficiency helps create a better working environment for health care workers, encouraging more people to get into the profession.
"It gives the benefit of being able to rotate them off less desirable shifts or holidays or weekends," said Silver.
The program is in collaboration with Professor Dimitris Bertsimas, the associate Dean of Analytics at MIT-Sloan, where Hartford HealthCare Innovation developed a start-up company, Holistic Hospital Optimization (H2O). According to Hartford HealthCare, this company uses AI to help healthcare providers optimize the flow of patients and other hospital operations. H2O also helps patients return home quickly and safely, optimizes staff time spent with patients, and frees up space and services during times of peak demand, the group said.
"Previously, we had always staffed the same amount of nurses for every shift regardless of day of week or time of year. Based on data, we’ve been able to review and project how many nurses we should be staffing at any given time of day," said Silver.
Hartford HealthCare said the Center for AI Innovation is rooted in research and development, education and training, collaboration and partnerships, and ethical and regulatory guidelines.
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Lindsey Kane is a reporter at FOX61 News. She can be reached at Lkane@fox61.com. Follow her on Facebook, X, and Instagram.
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