Ochsner Health System has launched new AI and cloud technology from Epic Systems and Microsoft to provide better care for patients.
 
The goal is to eliminate adverse events before they happen, with critical cues delivered to Ochsner care teams in real time.

Ochsner, which operates 30 hospitals and more than 80 health centers and urgent care centers in Louisiana, said the Microsoft and Epic technologies, when taken together, will enable predictive models to help its Rapid Response Team become proactive than reactive.

[Also: Ochsner deploys robots to zap germs in fight against deadly hospital-acquired infections]

“By utilizing Epic’s machine learning platform and Microsoft Azure, we can detect health patterns, learn from these insights and develop a more aggressive treatment plan as a preventative measure,” Ochsner CIO Laura Wilt said. 

The announcement comes after a 90-day pilot, during which the team reduced adverse events outside of the Intensive Care Unit by 44 percent.

Epic’s Director of Analytics and Machine Learning Seth Hain said that clinicians, data scientists and engineers are working together to deliver insights into the clinicians workflow. And Microsoft Corporate Vice President of Cloud AI Joseph Sirosh added that the three organizations are driving more precise care. 

“Cloud and AI technologies are helping health organizations around the world deliver better outcomes for patients,” Sirosh said. 

To that end, Ochsner executives see AI-powered capabilities as core to how the health system hopes to harness cutting-edge technologies to treat people in the future, officials said. 

Twitter: @Bernie_HITN
Email the writer: bernie.monegain@himssmedia.com