Belgian hospital AZ Groeninge is the first health institute in the country to implement PIPRA’s AI risk prediction tool, which helps prevent post-operative delirium in patients over 60 years of age undergoing surgery. AZ Groeninge will implement the tool into its existing clinical workflow. In addition, they are embarking on a collaborative project to develop an innovative AI-based delirium risk assessment tool for ICU patients.
Postoperative delirium (POD) is a stressful cognitive disorder that presents as an acute onset of confusion, inattention, and an altered level of consciousness. It affects 23% of patients over the age of 60 and generally arises one to three days post-surgery. It is the most common surgical complication in this age group. However, despite being a common postsurgical complication affecting millions of patients globally, POD often goes unnoticed and presents significant challenges for healthcare providers and patients, causing financial and social strain.
PIPRA addresses this challenge with the world-first AI-based software in the field of delirium. The startup has developed a prevention technology that combines artificial intelligence (AI) technology with a curated clinical database to accurately calculate the risk of an individual developing POD.
The Swiss start-up has inked a deal with AZ Groeninge, making it the first Belgian hospital to utilise PIPRA’s solution. The hospital will implement the tool into its existing clinical workflow, enabling healthcare professionals to seamlessly input routine medical data through a user-friendly data app or extract that data from electronic health records, giving immediate and reliable risk assessment results.
In addition, the two entities are embarking on a collaborative project to develop an innovative AI-based delirium risk assessment tool for ICU patients. This advancement empowers hospitals to implement preventive interventions even earlier before the patient arrives at the ward. This joint initiative marks a milestone in delirium prevention, setting new standards for patient care in Belgium. PIPRA and AZ Groeninge are committed to combining their expertise and resources to revolutionise healthcare and deliver exceptional care to patients.
Dr Wouter De Corte, Anaesthesiologist and Innovation Board Member at AZ Groeninge, says “We’re very proud to implement and co-develop this decision support tool together with PIPRA. POD significantly impairs patients’ medical outcomes. Further, it produces feelings of psychological burden among patients, their closest relatives, and healthcare professionals. Delirium is also associated with increased nursing time per patient, higher per-day hospital costs, increased length of hospital stay and higher healthcare costs. Prevention of delirium is, therefore, very relevant. Although many preventive measures can be easily taken, their implementation hospital-wide is often complex.”
Apart from AZ Groenige, Stanford is using PIPRA's software internally. José R. Maldonado, M.D. Stanford University School of Medicine, John & Terry Levin Family Professor of Medicine and Professor of Psychiatry, remarked that: “As clinicians consider and discuss surgical risks for their patients, we should similarly consider the risk for post-operative delirium. The use of PIPRA can personalise this risk calculation and provide both patients and clinicians with actionable information, with the purpose of instituting a delirium mitigation plan for that specific individual”.
(Press release/RAN)
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