An innovative new system that could help Western Health predict and prevent prolonged hospital stays for elderly patients will be fast-tracked thanks to the generosity of our incredible donor community. The project, titled ECLIPS - Elderly Complex Long Stay Inpatient Prediction System, will harness AI to get patients home faster, reducing preventable illness, and enhancing patient flow.
On Thursday 12 September, the Western Health Foundation hosted its annual Women+ for Western Health Pitch Night.
This event celebrates healthcare innovation and progress in Melbourne’s west, by awarding a Western Health staff project with the Women+ for Western Health Giving Circle grant. The Giving Circle is made up of generous philanthropists, whose donations are pooled to make this grant possible. The enthusiasm in the room on the night was undeniable, with the passion of the finalists echoed by everyone present.
The Western Health executives, staff, philanthropists, corporate partners, and community members present, heard five inspiring pitches from the finalists. All five projects were deserving of support, but it was Marcelle Ghaly, Business and Performance Manager for Access and Patient Flow at Western Health, whose project was awarded this year’s $50,000 grant.
Thank you to all the finalists, Lea Foo, Harriet Downing, Dina Pogrebnoy, Kate Kerrisk and Lucy Webster - your dedication and continual striving for best care is vitally important to our community and demonstrates the passion you bring to your work at Western Health.
Voted on by those present, Marcelle’s innovative system seeks to improve hospital efficiency by leveraging artificial intelligence to predict and prevent long hospital stays for elderly patients.
In her winning pitch, Marcelle pointed out that “long-stayers currently occupy 20% of our inpatient beds.”
Marcelle’s pitch centred around a woman named Jane, whose experience of delays, and a longer than expected hospital stay, led to an unfortunate outcome. To address these challenges and provide better outcomes for patients like Jane, Marcelle’s solution offers a proactive approach to identifying these patients and supporting their timely recovery and return home.
“Imagine harnessing the power of AI to spot these patients the moment they walk through the doors of emergency?”
“Our solution, trialled in the UK, provides a live and precise estimate of patients’ expected length of stay and their risk of overstaying. ECLIPS scans patient records to deliver this expected length of stay within 12 hours of accuracy, and a high-risk score with 85% accuracy… In the UK, this system has slashed 6 days off length of stay.”
The project, to be supported in line with Western Health’s recently endorsed AI Guidelines, will place Western Health as a leader for transformative change in this space. ECLIPS will require recruiting a technical specialist, the development of the AI tool, interventions co-designed with clinical staff, testing and handover to the relevant departments for long-term use.
Western Health Board Chair, Professor the Honourable Jill Hennessy, spoke with vigour and gratitude. “Thank you so much, to all of you that have come tonight. I was very delighted to support the initial establishment of the Giving Circle, so to those that have been on the journey from the start, thank you, and to those joining the journey tonight, we welcome you.”
Clare Shiell, Executive Director for the New Footscray Hospital at Plenary Health, and the Women+ for Western Health premium corporate sponsor, also spoke to the importance of nights like these.
“We believe in the power of ideas and bringing those ideas to life. We wish to support innovation and inclusion within healthcare, and Women+ is an ideal vehicle to do that.”
After the success of the event, Director of the Western Health Foundation, Sharon Read, said “I want to make a special call out to the Western Health Foundation Team who worked super hard to bring us such a great evening. The evening also would not have been as enjoyable without Prof. The Hon Jill Hennessy, super MC extraordinaire Michelle Redfern, Support from Plenary, our W+4WH donors and the amazing finalists from Western Health.”
We look forward to following Marcelle’s journey and keeping you up to date with the project’s progress.
Become a Women+ for Western Health Giving Circle member, and join like-minded individuals in pooling your donations to have greater impact:
