A scientific algorithm designed to predict early warning signs of life-threatening deterioration in hospital patients is being submitted to the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) for licensing approval following a successful clinical study in Netcare intensive care and high care units.
“Already, the quick Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (qSOFA) score has proven valuable in the critical care setting as an indicator of a patient’s potential risk of developing serious conditions like heart failure, respiratory failure requiring mechanical ventilation, infection, sepsis, or acute cardiac arrhythmia,” explains Professor Reitze Rodseth, head of clinical data innovation and research at Netcare.
Now, Netcare and Telehealth Competence Centre (TCC) Clinical Solutions GmbH, a German-based clinical AI manufacturer, are taking the next step in their partnership as Netcare applies to SAHPRA to become the South African distributor of this technology for wider use in its hospitals, supported by evidence generated during the successful clinical trial.
“Building on the capabilities of the algorithm, we are now turning our attention to models that further protect hospital patients by automatically predicting the risk of developing renal failure or serious respiratory difficulties requiring ventilation while a person is in hospital, and even after they have been discharged home, if necessary,” Prof Rodseth says.
“Another important clinical indicator we’re developing aims to calculate the probability of critical care readmission following discharge from the intensive care unit,” adds internal medicine, intensive care and emergency medicine specialist Professor Christian Storm, chief executive officer and co-founder of TCC GmbH.
Underpinned by complex mathematics, the artificial neural network applies a machine learning algorithm to analyse real-time patient data, including heart rate, blood pressure, oxygen saturation, and respiratory rate, which are continuously monitored via Netcare’s digital health platform, to predict clinical risk before it becomes otherwise detectable.
After development by TCC scientists, the complex algorithm was meticulously tested over several years by researchers from Netcare, TCC, the University of KwaZulu-Natal, and DigitalOn Tech (Pty) Ltd in South Africa. The security of patients’ personal data is fundamental to the pioneering partnership between Netcare and TCC, which commenced in 2023, explains Prof Storm.
“The remote digital intensive-care level of individual monitoring provides real-time, high-frequency data as a basis for AI-guided prediction of a person’s medical course, proactively identifying where preventive treatment may be beneficial to guide earlier intervention,” he says.
“By extending our partnership with Netcare in the South African healthcare market, we look forward to further extending the possibilities this technology creates for better informed treatment decisions that ultimately achieve better patient outcomes and make a meaningful difference in people’s lives.”
Dr Anchen Laubscher, Group medical director of Netcare, says that the Group’s strategic shift towards a data and AI-driven approach to person centred healthcare, under the leadership of chief executive officer Dr Richard Friedland, places it at the forefront of global healthcare trends.
“Today, judicious use of AI has become an essential part of healthcare. The clinical indicators derived from this technology provide valuable data points to support doctors’ treatment decisions, often creating opportunities to prevent clinical deterioration. Our partnership with TCC represents an important advancement in the quality of care available to our patients and further enhances the state-of-the-art tools at the fingertips of medical professionals practising in Netcare facilities,” Dr Laubscher concludes.
Ends.
Notes to editors
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