AI in Healthcare: Tech Assists in Timely Hospice Transition

Photo by Alexander Gray on Unsplash

While artificial intelligence may seem as far from humanity as it gets, a new program at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, is pioneering a novel use of AI in healthcare to assist in arguably the most human experience there is. The tech is being used to help direct befitting ER patients to hospice care for a more comfortable end-of-life transition.

The hospital recently implemented the program, which uses AI algorithms to analyze patient healthcare data and flag those who may be best suited to hospice. The result? Fifty-four percent of patients determined to be close to end-of-life were placed on observation status rather than admitted to the ER, then quickly transitioned to hospice care — generally within 96 hours. In many cases, the hospice team was able to begin comfort-based end-of-life care within two hours. As hospice care focuses on quality of life as well as emotional and spiritual needs, the end-of-life experience tended to be more peaceful and dignified for both the patient and their loved ones.

The notable results of the AI-based effort are a stark departure from just 22% of appropriate patients transitioning to hospice before the program. Previously, these patients would have been admitted to the ER, which requires a lengthy process to determine goals and end-of-life wishes. Often, this process extended beyond the time a patient had, resulting in foreseeable deaths occurring in the ER setting.

Senior research study author Dr. Mallika Mendu, also Brigham and Women’s vice president of clinical operations and care continuum, shared, “It’s been incredibly moving to witness the care delivered by our multi-disciplinary program, and the impact on patients and families.”

Photo by Alexander Grey on Unsplash

Researchers did emphasize that the AI program is not a be-all and end-all for expediting hospice transition — patients who had a Medical Order for Life-Sustaining Treatment, or MOLST, which translates patients’ preferences and goals for care into medical orders, were also more often transitioned.

The success of the AI-hospice program at Brigham and Women’s program contrasts a recent NBC investigative report that found HCA Hospitals, one of the nation’s most extensive hospital chains, was prematurely pushing patients into hospice and palliative care in order to subvert inpatient mortality metrics. These metrics are often used to determine rankings in the quality of care hospitals offer, with the alarming move pushing HCA Hospitals higher in the rank hierarchy.

Brigham and Women’s is thankfully on the opposite end of the spectrum, and the success of the program — in addition to further cementing the role of AI in healthcare — indicates that quality, comfort-based end-of-life care may soon be on the rise.