Under the partnership, in which UCLH officials said they have invested a “substantial” but undisclosed amount of funding, researchers will apply AI algorithms to a range of tasks traditionally performed by physicians and nurses. The collaborators expect these tasks to include using AI to diagnose cancer from CT scans and to detect which patients are likely to miss appointments.
The first project under the partnership aims to reduce wait times in UCLH’s accident and emergency department, in part by triaging patients most likely to suffer from a severe problem before their condition becomes critical. In March, just 76.4 percent of patients in need of urgent care were treated within four hours at the hospital’s ER.
Officials from UCLH and Alan Turing Institute said the goal of the partnership is to direct less of clinicians’ time toward mundane, information-driven tasks, so that they have more time to spend with patients.
“Machines will never replace doctors, but the use of data, expertise and technology can radically change how we manage our services for the better,” Marcel Levi, PhD, CEO of UCLH, told The Guardian.
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