It’s crucial to keep patients safe when they receive care. This is especially important for mental health conditions, where early intervention can make a big difference. In recent years, the application of artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare has shown great promise, and one area where it holds significant potential is the development of an early warning score (EWS) system for mental health patients.
Early warning scores help care teams identify early signs of a patient’s health getting worse so they can take action early, said Dr. Andrea Waddell, Medical Director Quality Standards and Clinical Informatics.
Knowing ahead of time that a patient may be at risk of harm can help us develop intervention strategies such as increased nursing attention and adjustments to their care plan.
Data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information in 2021-22 shows that 1 in 17 hospital stays had unintended harm, and almost half of them could have been avoided.
Waypoint’s Dr. Waddell is also the regional clinical co-lead for mental health and addictions at Ontario Health’s Mental Health and Addictions Centre of Excellence. She and her team of researchers are seeking to change this statistic creating an EWS to prevent harm before it happens.
Artificial intelligence has revolutionized various sectors and mental health care is no exception. It can look at a lot of data, find patterns and give helpful information. When used in mental health care, AI can help detect problems early, make personalized treatment plans, and reduce the burden on healthcare providers.