First published 19 September 2024
The Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Society (ANZICS) is teaming with QUT and Playtime Solutions to launch a cutting-edge project to give Intensive Care Units (ICU) early warning of higher than expected mortality rates.
The Australian Government has awarded $1.5-million dollars in funding to ANZICS, which includes the ICU Forecast project. This project will help identify ICUs across Australia and New Zealand that are at risk of becoming outliers—ICUs whose patient outcomes are worse than expected— before this occurs so that action can be taken proactively to avoid loss of life.
As part of the project, researchers at the QUT Centre for Data Science (CDS) will work closely with the ANZICS Registry team to gain an understanding of factors believed to influence ICU outcomes and develop forecast models that can bring that knowledge to bear.
Professor David Lovell, from the QUT School of Computer Science and CDS, said for three decades, ANZICS had captured data about ICU admissions, regularly and carefully analysed it to maintain high standards of care in ICU systems.
“Our goal is to take this historical information and use forecasting models to turn that data into useful insights and an advance warning system for ICU teams,” Professor Lovell said.
CDS Senior Research Fellow, Dr Edgar Santos-Fernandez , from the School of Mathematical Sciences, has helped pioneer statistical modelling methods that can detect trends and anomalies in Australian river systems. These methods are to be a cornerstone of the ICU Forecast Project.
“Even though river systems and health systems seem to have nothing in common, they both exist in space and time, and we can apply similar spatio-temporal modelling methods to help detect and forecast unusual patterns in ICU data,” Dr Santos-Fernandez said.
“By flagging potential issues early, we hope to give ICUs the chance to take preventative action, enhance patient care and improve outcomes in a timely manner.”
More than 200,000 patients are admitted to ICUs each year across Australia in New Zealand. For ANZICS, this project is all about making sure those patients get the best care.
Alfred Hospital Intensive Care Specialist and ANZICS Vice President), Professor David Pilcher said: "The ICU Forecast will improve outcomes for all critically ill patients in all hospitals."
Professor Ed Litton, Fiona Stanley Hospital Intensive care specialist and ANZICS Registry Critical Care Resources Registry Director, said: “ICU Forecast is an evolution in approach to ICU safety and quality. It allows us to move from using data in a reactive to a proactive framework using new tools to give bedside clinicians the information they need to drive care improvements.”
The QUT researchers will then work with Playtime Solutions as well as ICU Directors and decision makers to explore how model forecasts can best be put into practice.
Playtime Solutions will play a crucial role in that by incorporating and deploying ICU forecast models into ANZICS’ information systems and processes.
Frank Gigliuto, CEO, Playtime Solutions said, "We are thrilled to partner with ANZICS and QUT on this transformative project that leverages advanced data insights to enhance ICU care. At Playtime Solutions, we believe in the power of proactive data-driven decision-making to save lives and improve patient outcomes.”
“This collaboration presents an excellent opportunity for QUT to partner with key organisations like ANZICS and Playtime on a project with the potential to make a significant real-world impact on ICU care,” Dr Santos-Fernandez said.
The $1.5-million funding is from the Australian Government’s National Clinical Quality Registry Program.
Top image: Professor David Lovell (left) and Dr Edgar Santos-Fernadez
Rod Chester, 07 3138 9449, rod.chester@qut.edu.au
After hours: 0407 585 901, media@qut.edu.au
