Sahyadri Hospitals, a private healthcare provider in India, recently equipped its non-ICU units with artificial intelligence.
Founded in 1996, the group claims to be the largest hospital chain in Maharashtra, western India, operating 13 hospitals with over a thousand beds.
PROBLEM
For many years it relied on customary patient monitoring systems and regular manual checks by skilled nursing and clinical teams.
“However, this approach had its limitations, including dependence on periodic check-ups and the potential for delays in identifying early signs of deterioration, especially in non-ICU settings,” confessed Dr. Kapil Borawake, director of the intensive care unit at Sahyadri Hospitals.
In an interview with Dr. Borawake, he highlighted the following key patient safety challenges: early detection of patient deterioration, reduced response times and reduced physician workload.
SOLUTION
“The lack of continuous monitoring in non-ICU settings meant a reactive rather than proactive approach to patient safety,” Dr. Borawake said.
Seeing this gap, Sahyadri thought of setting up an artificial intelligence center in collaboration with medical device company Dozee.
“To fill these gaps, an AI-powered command center has been launched, enabling continuous real-time monitoring and providing early warnings to medical teams. This initiative aims to move from a reactive care model to a predictive and preventive one, significantly improving patient safety and clinical outcomes.”
Meeting the challenge
A proof-of-concept with Dozee showed positive results, Dr. Borawake said.
“The AI-powered early warning system has demonstrated remarkable ability to provide clinicians with critical time to intervene. This has led to a significant reduction in adverse events and optimized physician workload by streamlining monitoring processes.”
Dr. Kapil Borawake, Director, Intensive Care Unit, Sahyadri Hospitals
“Additionally, operational efficiency improved, which translated into savings while maintaining high standards of patient care.”
RESULTS
As of now, non-ICU wards in Sahyadri wards in Hadapsar and Deccan are fully equipped with artificial intelligence. It includes AI-based ballistocardiography for contactless monitoring of vital signs such as heart rate, respiratory rate, blood pressure, SPO2 levels, temperature and ECG, as well as EWS to track vital trends and notify of early clinical deterioration.
On the clinical side, Sahyadri pursues the following goals: reducing mortality rates, ensuring timely interventions, and improving patient recovery outcomes.
“Our goal is also to reduce the number of code blue incidents in non-ICU settings,” Dr. Borawake added.
On the operational side, the hospital strives to escalate resource utilization, reduce physician workload, and ensure seamless communication between care teams.
Sahyadri is expected to expand its AI-powered command center across all 13 of its divisions “in the coming months.”
“Patient safety is the foundation of our business. With this initiative, we are moving from a reactive model to a predictive and preventive model… In today’s changing healthcare landscape, the integration of artificial intelligence into clinical practice is becoming indispensable to meet the high standards of care that patients now expect,” emphasized Dr. Borawake.