LAKERIDGE HEALTH TOOLS TO UNDERSTAND EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT WAIT TIMES

Lakeridge Health is launching new Ai-powered tools to help patients better understand emergency department wait times

In our quest to improve the patient experience in our emergency departments (ED), we are excited to share news of the Patient Passport, personalized ED wait times, and an enhanced Wait Time Bulletin Board.

Together, these new tools will help patients make informed choices about the timing and location of their care, as well as enhance their experience through communication.

PATIENT PASSPORT AND PERSONALIZED ED WAIT TIMES

When you arrive at any one of our EDS at Ajax Pickering, Oshawa, Bowmanville, or Port Perry hospitals, you will now be given a guide that helps you understand how long you may wait during your visit, as well as more information about the time you will potentially spend in the ED.

It is called a "Patient Passport."

And it is part of a suite of tools powered by the same artificial intelligence (AI) that predicts the stock market and is used in outer space flight. This Patient Passport provides information about your ED journey, from triage to registration and the waiting room, to initial assessment, treatment and discharge.

AI is the simulation of human intelligence processes by computer systems; at Lakeridge Health, we are on the cutting-edge, using AI to improve the ability to predict the way a hospital visit will be experienced. The Patient Passport will be accompanied by a new, personalized, predicted wait time for how long a patient can anticipate waiting to see a physician.

ENHANCED WAIT TIME BULLETIN BOARD

In addition, the total number of patients waiting, the number of patients being seen and whether predicted wait times are on track will be made visible to ED patients on an enhanced, wall-mounted Wait Time Bulletin Board.

This use of AI is a new and promising concept in emergency medicine, not offered anywhere else in Ontario. What is also exciting about this initiative is the partnership between Lakeridge Health and Durham College's Hub for Applied Research in Artificial Intelligence, which has helped to make this project possible.

From an AI perspective, several factors play into the data model for the Patient Passport and personalized predicted ED wait times. This high-tech solution considers a patient's health status, the nature and urgency of their condition, and other system factors such as the availability of physicians and the time of day, week, and season.

We know coming to an ED can be stressful for many people. We hope the information that these new, Ai-powered tools provide will help to ease potential anxiety when arriving at any Lakeridge Health ED.