A new Digital Health Cooperative Research Centre project will study the impact of an AI-powered diagnostic support solution on clinicians' decision-making and patient management at the point of care.

Led by Macquarie University, Sydney Local Health District, and medtech startup annalise.ai, the project will specifically look into the use of the Annalise Enterprise CXR solution in helping clinicians deliver safe and effective interpretations of chest x-rays in emergency departments. It will assess its impact on diagnostic accuracy, patient management, and cognitive load in comparison to current practice. 

The Annalise chest x-ray interpretation tool can detect up to 124 findings and localise those suspected findings on chest x-ray images.

WHY IT MATTERS

While it is widely known that AI can assist doctors in clinical decision-making, its translated benefits to care quality and patient safety "remain largely unmeasured," said DHCRC. 

Given the short window of time for radiologists to review and render a formal report on chest x-rays, especially at times of high demand, the use of AI can offer doctors a "more timely clue on what to look" for until they can receive a full report, explained Professor Farah Magrabi of the Australian Institute of Health Innovation at Macquarie University.

Michael Dinh, founder and director of Royal Prince Alfred Hospital’s Green Light Institute for Emergency Care, claimed that "[t]he ability for clinical staff to have immediate access to more detailed findings will ultimately lead to better outcomes for our patients".

"Chest x-ray remains a core medical imaging diagnostic tool, and in emergency medicine, the need for accurate, time-critical clinical decisions is paramount," added Dr Mark Phillips, annalise.ai's head of Clinical Research and Medical Affairs.

THE LARGER TREND

Sydney LHD is also leading another DHCRC project that seeks to evaluate and improve clinical decision-making across regional and metropolitan hospital settings in Australia. The research team is using Alcidion's Miya Precision platform to identify priority areas where decision support tools will add value to Australian hospitals.

In other news, annalise.ai just recently made key appointments as it sought to expand into the United States. It named Lakshmi Gudapakkam as CEO and Dr Rick Abramson as CMO. Their appointments came after the company received a US Food and Drug Administration's 510(k) clearance for Annalise Enterprise CXR in March.