American nurses ‘race’ with AI nurse

In the coming time, when going to health hospitals, many Americans may receive calls from Ana – with a friendly voice, can answer all questions, from basic to urgent, related to the needs of the patient. Ana works continuously for 24 hours, does not rest, because this is a program that is created by HippocRatic company. “She” can talk to patients in many languages, from Hindi to Creole Haiti, helping them prepare for the appointment.

In addition to Ana, hundreds of hospitals are using sophisticated computer programs to monitor patient survival signs, alert emergency situations and make step -by -step care plans. In the previous period, these are the jobs that nurses and health experts undertake.

Hospitals say artificial intelligence (AI) helps nurses to work more effectively, and solve exhaustion and lack of personnel. However, the Nursing Trade Union believes that this technology is overwhelming the expertise of the practitioner and reducing the quality of patient care.

Michelle Mahon, a member of the US National Nursing Federation, said that “the entire ecosystem is designed to automate, reduce skills and eventually replace caregivers.”

Mahon’s team has organized more than 20 protests in hospitals across the United States, requesting to grant the right to decide who to use and have the right to exempt responsibility if not obeying the instructions from AI.

At Dignity Health Hospital in Henderson, Nevada, Adam Hart met the case of the Hospital’s AI system with a flag of blood infection for a newly arrived patient. According to the hospital’s process, he must immediately transmit a large amount of intravenous fluid to the patient. However, after further examination, Hart determined that it was a patient who was dialysis. Such patients must be considered more carefully before infusion, avoiding the kidney overload.

Hart raised his concerns with the monitoring nurse, but was required to follow the process. Only after a nearby doctor intervened, the patient began to be transmitted slowly.

Hart and other nurses said that they understand whose goal is to help nurses easily follow many patients and quickly react to problems. However, in fact, the computer offers a series of fake alarms, sometimes the basic classification, such as attaching the flag of the patient to defecate is an emergency medical case.

“Imagine that you are trying to focus on your work, but get the wrong warnings. They have meaning, or not. Sometimes it is difficult to know when it is accurate, when not, because there are too many fake alarms,” ​​Melissa Bebe, a cancer nurse at UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, shared.

Michelle Collins, Head of Nursing Department of Loyola University noted, even the most sophisticated technology will miss the signs that nurses regularly grasp, such as facial expressions and smell.

However, people also have shortcomings and confusion when working continuously, she said.

“It would be stupid if we turned away from technology. We should grasp the useful things, thereby enhancing our care. On the other hand, we should be careful, not to replace people,” Collins said.

It is estimated that more than 100,000 nurses have left the workforce in Covid-19 pandemic, the largest reduction of personnel in 40 years. When the US population grows and retired, the government estimates that more than 190,000 new positions each year until 2032.

Faced with this trend, the hospital considered AI as an important solution. Who does not take care of the patient care, they help nurses and doctors collect information, thereby communicating with patients effectively.

At the Arkansas University Medical Science Center in Little Rock, the staff called hundreds of phone calls a week to prepare for surgical patients. Nurses confirm information about prescriptions, heart condition and other problems carefully before anesthesia. However, the problem is that many patients only answered the phone in the evening, about two hours after eating, before going to bed. Thus, nurses must find a way to call hundreds of people in a period of 120 minutes. Many hospitals do not want to pay overtime for medical staff. So AI is a solution. Since January, Dr. Joseph Sanford’s hospital has used AI assistant from Qventus to contact the patient, send – receive medical records and summarize their content to employees.

Qventus said 115 hospitals are using their technology, to increase the hospital’s income. AI’s mission is to arrange a surgical schedule, reduce surgical cancellation rate and release labor force for medical staff. Each call begins with the program that claims to be an assistant AI.

“We always want to be completely transparent to our patients, so that they can understand that there are times when they will be exchanged with employees who are real people, sometimes not,” Sanford said.

While companies like Qventus provide administrative services, other developers have a further vision to their technology.

Israeli startup company, specializing in providing images of real people, in order to make calls with patients. The company is cooperating with Mayo Clinic, creating assistants who teach patients with chronic pain management techniques. Xoltar is also developing a tool to help people quit smoking. According to the company, in the initial test, the patient spent about 14 minutes talking to the program. From there, the system can grasp the face, body language and other signals and give appropriate advice.

Nursing experts research AI, such programs may be effective for the group relatively healthy and proactive in their health care. However, this is not the main patient group of hospitals.

“The new serious illness accounts for the majority in the US hospitals. Is Chatbot suitable for them?