Alice Chambers |
When patients and their families prepare for a surgical procedure, they typically meet the surgeon, review the risks, discuss possible outcomes and develop a recovery plan. However, they rarely consider the extensive preparation required for the surgical suite or the workflows needed to ensure a safe and effective outcome. Behind the scenes, there are people, processes, medical devices and supplies that must be orchestrated to achieve the best possible outcome for the patient.
In the age of AI, surgical suites are increasingly infused with technology to streamline processes, mitigate risks and ensure that all necessary resources are optimised for each operation. One company leading this transformation is Artisight. It offers an AI-powered Smart Hospital Platform that captures precise, real-time data to enhance operations, reduce costs and allow clinicians to focus on patient care. Its platform combines computer vision, multi-sensor networks and industry-defining AI to create ambient intelligence that adapts to specific environments and workflows. Artisight’s operating room (OR) solution provides real-time automation, acting like an air traffic control system for the OR by capturing surgical timestamps, tracking workflows and notifying staff when rooms are ready for turnover. Seamless integration with the patient’s health record ensures complete, automated documentation without adding any administrative burdens.
The solution also provides video de-identification capabilities so physicians can securely review, label and archive surgical footage for educational purposes, peer collaboration and quality improvement. Artisight’s computer vision and AI-enhanced case analysis transforms raw surgical video into actionable insights while protecting patient privacy.
Artisight also uses AI-powered case length predictions to optimise OR scheduling, minimising downtime and improving throughput. Real-time location system solutions for tracking staff, patients and surgical equipment helps hospitals improve resource utilisation, enhance patient flow and reduce inefficiencies.
Artisight’s Smart Hospital Platform extends beyond the OR, transforming patient rooms into intelligent care environments that enhance safety, efficiency and clinician support. Using computer vision, ambient intelligence and AI-driven automation, Artisight powers virtual nursing, fall-risk monitoring and predictive analytics, enabling hospitals to scale care delivery without increasing staff burden.
Hospitals leveraging Artisight’s real-time video and AI-powered bedside monitoring have seen a 48 per cent reduction in nurse turnover, a 31 per cent decrease in documentation time and an average of 5.5 hours saved per nurse per day. By integrating seamlessly with healthcare software company Epic and other leading electronic health records, Artisight reduces clinical inefficiencies while improving patient outcomes and staff satisfaction – making hospital operations smarter, safer and more scalable.
Another leading healthcare automation platform is Opmed.ai, which transforms healthcare operations through AI-driven planning. Its platform goes beyond simple recommendations – it builds the most efficient schedules possible by analysing billions of permutations to construct optimised work plans. Opmed’s powerful AI engine doesn’t simply rely on historical data, as it is able to identify patterns using a variety of individual case requests to predict durations with over 90 per cent accuracy. Opmed.ai helps hospitals maximise the OR by creating usable blocks of time that can be used either for additional procedures or cost reduction through room closures. The platform includes a scheduler builder; a block architect, which identifies hospital blocks that are likely to go unused; a post anesthesia care unit planner that sources available resources and recovery rooms; and a multi-site balancer to help patients get seen quicker while reducing staff and room idle time. It also includes an ‘Opmed staff’, which manages staff assignments by predicting requirements, coordinating across departments and creating equitable schedules that balance organisational needs with staff preferences.
Opmed.ai helps healthcare providers to schedule operations based on room availability
Opmed.ai customers – including global medical group Mayo Clinic and Geisinger, a regional healthcare provider in Pennsylvania – are seeing remarkable results. At Mayo Clinic, Opmed.ai’s AI model reduced the time it takes to predict medical cases from 60 to 34 minutes per case, saving more than 200 hours annually per OR. At Geisinger, the platform achieved 96 per cent scheduling accuracy in daily case predictions and a 90 per cent success rate in block release recommendations, with significant monthly time savings across their facility types.
“Opmed.ai’s advanced platform aligns with our mission to make healthcare more accessible and efficient,” said Jeffrey Adams, chief administrative officer for surgical and medical services at Geisinger. “We’re already seeing first results and are confident this technology will help us maximise our OR capacity and accelerate patient care.”
Both Opmed.ai and Artisight are using Microsoft Azure AI in trailblazing ways, which is impressive given the high bar for security, compliance and confidentiality in the healthcare industry. And while the application of AI in the surgical theatre from organisations like Artisight and Opmed.ai is behind the scenes, the patients, their families and hospital staff are already experiencing improved patient outcomes, reduced staff burdens and maximised efficiency.
Sally Ann Frank is worldwide lead for health and life sciences at Microsoft for Startups
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