Complications
Complications are perhaps the most important quality indicator in hospital care. They reveal how effective, safe and efficient care truly is. Every complication means a heavier recovery for the patient and leads to two to three times higher costs for the organisation compared with an uncomplicated admission.
Yet insight into complications is often limited. Registration is experienced as time-consuming and burdensome, so it is performed incompletely or inconsistently. The result is a distorted picture of actual incidence and fewer opportunities to improve care in a structural way.
Approach
To improve complication registration we conducted broad research across specialisms and complication types. We deliberately opted for a wide scope to discover what works in practice.
Our approach
- Literature review: we mapped the existing body of knowledge and prior studies thoroughly.
- Data sources: instead of limiting ourselves to one source, we examined multiple clinical and administrative data streams.
- Selection techniques: we tested and compared several techniques to flag complications reliably.
What this delivers
- We now know which data sources offer a dependable foundation for automated complication detection.
- We identified the signal detection techniques that provide the best balance between sensitivity, precision and specificity.
- The resulting detection models substantially outperform current manual registration in both completeness and accuracy.
Short version: automated complication detection is not only feasible, it is more reliable and effective than the status quo.
Athio
Our research resulted in Athio: a practical and powerful detection tool that gives hospitals a trustworthy view of complications without additional administrative burden.
Athio can be implemented quickly and keeps hospital data scientists in control. The tool is platform agnostic, works across specialisms and adapts to each organisation.
What makes Athio different
- Low threshold: implementation is manageable without a heavyweight project.
- Flexible: suitable for every hospital and medical domain.
- Cost-effective: can be configured at relatively low cost.
With Athio, complication detection becomes more reliable, efficient and future-proof.
Contact
Interested in an Athio demo or want to explore the possibilities for your organisation? Leave your details and we will reach out.