In a time of inflation, talent shortages, supply chain challenges and shrinking capital, health care decision makers must be more deft than ever in stretching budgets. And those obstacles are prompting some health system leaders to forge new paths with emergency medical providers in the world of artificial intelligence.
“AI and predictive modeling are driving everything we do, and those tools are helping our hospital partners dramatically increase patient throughput,” said Larry Richardson, a former paramedic and chief business officer at AmeriPro Health, an Atlanta-based provider of 911 EMS and medical transportation services. AmeriPro operates in nine states and has grown more than 100% year over year since launching in 2018.
“We’re a data company that happens to run an ambulance,” he continued. “We know where we need to be and have resources prepared long before we need to be there, which creates more capacity for us to optimize advanced treatment before we get to the hospital.”
PROBLEM
The problem facing one AmeriPro Health partner hospital was a combination of many of the familiar headaches that nearly every healthcare executive across the country has had to deal with over the past few years: overcrowding, bottlenecks that slow patient processing, extended downtime due to underutilized units, and a lack of available, actionable real-time data needed to overcome these challenges, Richardson explained.
“It’s a perfect storm of events that are converging to disrupt day-to-day operations and threaten to limit long-term growth prospects,” he said. “These are immediate issues within the facility, but there is also a ripple effect that extends into the broader community.
“It’s not uncommon to see a line of our ambulances waiting outside for hours because of a lack of beds,” he continued. “Those units are now temporarily out of commission, unable to respond to other emergencies that may arise in the surrounding area. It’s just one example of why optimizing patient flow is so important.”
In health care, every second counts, he added.
“You can have a world-class team of experts, the latest cutting-edge technology and a facility that is second to none in your market, but if you don’t have an efficient logistics network that ensures patients receive the right care in the right place at the right time, you will never be able to solve your patient flow problem,” he said. “Thankfully, this health system was ahead of the curve in identifying these challenges and demonstrating the resolve needed to quickly address them.”
PROPOSE
Ownership of AmeriPro Health The AI platform will create and develop predictive models that will identify common bottlenecks and help decision makers know where they need to go to fill the gaps.
“If you understand in advance what’s going to happen with daily patient flow, equipment needs, peak utilization times, and staffing needs, you can certainly reduce the burden on doctors and nurses while improving patient outcomes and overall satisfaction,” Richardson said. “Our AI system will allow us to draw on real-time and historical hospital data to develop an initial algorithm that provides guidance within minutes.
“Everything is about fixing bottlenecks and creating a unified, cohesive strategy,” he notes. “The hospital’s C-suite has one vision of the patient volume that needs to be handled. The mid-level managers and directors have a different vision of it. So we have to align all the perspectives into an operational plan that ties everything together based on the data that’s being collected.”
Over time, he added, the predictive value generated will be further optimized by the ever-expanding amount of real-time data, allowing patient flow managers to adjust accordingly and adapt more quickly to suddenly changing circumstances.
Facing the Challenge
The technology AmeriPro Health is deploying on behalf of this health system represents the next chapter in the AI program AmeriPro Health is using within its internal network.
“EQUAL “As an EMS provider, patient care is at the heart of everything we do,” Richardson said. “But we are also a data company. Through our AI platform, we know where we need to be and organize our resources before we need to get there, creating more possibilities for us to optimize advanced levels of treatment before hospital admission.
“Building on that foundation of success, the next logical step was to partner with one of our larger hospital partners, who quickly signed on to the pilot program after we explained to them how to use this technology for their own benefit,” he continued.
“Our AI engine is one layer. We extract raw data, run it through the Microsoft platform, then feed it into AI to give us a predictive model, giving you all the guidance you need about daily workloads/peak times, recommended staffing, and potential bottlenecks, before they actually happen.”
Once the data was in, EMS staff made recommendations on how the hospital could pivot to help optimize patient flow. For example, EMS staff used online ordering records through a computer-generated dispatch system, allowing the hospital to reduce transport costs by transferring accurate data back and forth between AmeriPro and the hospital’s EHR system.
“The data also showed how the hospital was able to adjust and find new efficiencies in its discharge process,” Richardson notes. “With the hospital’s approval, AmeriPro Health went into the facility and set up a discharge waiting room where we could monitor patients and then facilitate all transfers from the waiting room so that hospital staff could devote their time and attention to filling beds for other patients.
“As our AI program evolves, our goal is to be able to go into a hospital, layer this information on top of their EHR, and drill down into specific logistical needs and acute behavior,” he said. “If someone has chest pain, we can use that data to predict how long they’ll need to stay, and ultimately when they’ll be discharged and where they need to go.”
RESULT
Within a few months of Thanks to the AI program deployed, AmeriPro has reduced the average patient’s hospital stay by one day.
“Those results led decision makers to quickly replicate the program across other hospitals in the system, which will result in an additional 4,700 admissions per year across the network,” Richardson reported. “We are currently developing strategies for other facilities and will roll them out in the coming months.
“We have also significantly reduced ambulance response times and with the staffing crunch, our technology is helping us significantly optimize our resources to their maximum potential,” he continued. “Before our program was implemented, the majority of our hospital partners’ discharges were between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. Now, 11 to 12 months later, ambulance discharges are being made by 10:30 a.m.”
The math there is simple: More capacity in the ED early in the day allows for more patient flow, he added. This also directly translates to increased coverage in the community with more ambulances, providing better access to health care instead of just stopping at a wall at the hospital, he said.
ADVICE FOR OTHERS
“Data is the currency of truth,” Richardson advises. “So it is imperative for healthcare leaders to engage with a logistics partner that understands technology trends, what the hospital’s mission is, and how to effectively leverage AI to fully optimize resources and assets.
“One of the key lessons learned from this experience is the importance of ambulance providers having a seat at the table when making decisions about how to move patients,” he continued. “The potential savings in money and time are too great to ignore. We are not a provider, we are a strategic logistics partner.”
In this case, AmeriPro Health was able to bring added value to its hospital partner because the hospital had already adopted technology and could look at the issue through the perspective of hospital operations as a shared responsibility involving multiple parties – all working toward a common goal.
“There will always be uncertainty in our industry, but by “By using AI and other technology tools to better predict what might happen next, health systems will be better positioned to adapt and thrive, regardless of the crisis or sudden change that will inevitably occur,” he concluded.
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