Artificial Intelligence

Intelligent Series Connection and Integration in Microbiological Examination

The Department of Laboratory Medicine adhered to the closed-loop system standards of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) to establish a “smart microbial testing” system. This comprehensive system encompasses a smart barcode label printer, specimen delivery tracker, positive blood bottle alert, and an automatic verification mechanism. It is notably integrated with the Chang Gung Memorial Messenger (Team+) for panic value notifications.

By using the “smart microbial testing” system, we increased the positive rate of microbial cultures from 8.8% to 9.5%. We also reduced the identification time for bacterial species to 48 hours and the drug susceptibility test duration to 24 hours. Implementing this system has cut the overall turnaround time for blood cultures and drug sensitivity tests from 4.5 days to 2.94 days, providing a 1.5-day golden window for treating bacteremia. This initiative earned us the Symbol of National Quality (SNQ) in 2021 and the National Healthcare Quality Award (NHQA) in 2022.

MALDI-TOF Combined with Intelligent Series Connection and Integration in Microbiological Examination

• Microbes identified by MALDI-TOF

In microbiology report issuance, it’s essential to check various test items: whether the culture is aerophilic or anaerobic, the type of specimen, and if a specific bacterial species is targeted. Mass spectrometry has its detection limits, and some identifications may need additional methods for confirmation. It’s also crucial to exclude normal flora to prevent incorrect report issuance and to ensure antibiotic susceptibility test results are rule-compliant. The verification of these aspects is a time-consuming process that demands significant manpower, highlighting the necessity for automated verification programs for microbial testing.

Intelligent Series Connection and Integration in Microbiological Examination

• Applied AI interpretation for Antibiotic Drug Sensitivity Test

Coordinated information systems for identification of bacteria and intelligent management in the microbiology laboratory (Certificate of the Symbol of National Quality at 2021)

Smart Microbiological Examination: Battle to rescue sepsis (Certificate of the National Healthcare Quality Award at 2022)

Microbiological Examination Rate of Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital

Establish a Interdisciplinary /Cross-campus Project Team

In order to achieve our goals, we need a strong information team to help design the required programs, and the design of the program needs to be designed according to the suggestions of experts to be practical. We also need clinical testing and verification programs. Therefore, we established project improvement team

Auto-verification System of Microbiological Examination

What are the many test items that need to be checked when issuing a microbiology report? Aerophilic or anaerobic culture? What type of specimen is it? Are you looking for a specific bacterial species? The detection of a mass spectrometer has its limits. Some identification results require the addition of other identification methods before they can be issued. In addition, Normal Flora also needs to exclude the inability to issue, whether the antibiotic susceptibility test results comply with the rules, etc. Only after these aspects are checked one by one can a report be verified, which costs a lot of time. Manpower time is very high, that’s why we need to develop automatic verification programs for microorganisms

Fast & Accurate Reports can Improve Medical Quality

Benefit - Reduce the Use of Healthcare Resources

Our report was advanced by more than 2 days from the original 86 hours. Therefore, the medical expenses will be reduced by about 30,000 yuan, and the hospital will be able to treat more patients and save the lives of patients.

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