Beaumont Hospital in Dublin is planning to implement artificial intelligence (AI) to predict patient no-shows and last-minute appointment cancellations.
The hospital will invest up to €110,000 in an initial pilot program for the AI project. The aim is to minimize waste within the healthcare system, as no-shows currently account for 15.5% of all scheduled appointments.
“One significant challenge faced by healthcare providers is the issue of outpatient non-attendance (DNAs),” the hospital stated.
“High outpatient DNA rates waste vital resources and hamper the healthcare provider’s ability to deliver services and provide appropriate care to patients.”
Addressing high outpatient DNA rates is a key strategic objective for the hospital through 2030, and they plan to leverage the AI technology to achieve this goal.
While a two-way text messaging system already reminds patients of upcoming appointments, Beaumont Hospital intends for the AI to enhance this existing system.
“This information is then used to tailor the messaging the patient receives to increase the likelihood of attendance and simultaneously provide the hospital with vital information to inform clinic management and bookings,” the statement continued.
The hospital will utilize data from its patient administration system to train the AI model to predict the probability of a patient missing an appointment.
The AI solution must also be capable of forecasting non-attendance and short-notice cancellations in real-time and seamlessly integrate with the existing text message reminder system.
Beaumont Hospital anticipates initiating the pilot program for the AI project over a period of at least four months, either in late 2025 or early 2026. If the pilot proves successful and the AI is fully implemented, the total estimated value of the contract is €1.2 million.
AI is increasingly being adopted in Irish hospitals. The Mater Hospital, for example, recently established a new center for AI and Digital Health to tackle clinical challenges within the hospital.
Erin Daly, the operations manager for the Mater Hospital’s Pillar Centre for Transformative Healthcare, believes that AI has the potential to “transform how we deliver healthcare”.
