Netcare Seeks Approval for AI System Designed to Detect Patient Deterioration Earlier
Netcare Seeks Approval for AI System Designed to Detect Patient Deterioration Earlier. Netcare has submitted an artificial intelligence algorithm designed to identify early signs of critical deterioration in hospital patients to the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (Sahpra) for licensing.
The application follows the completion of a clinical study conducted in Netcare’s intensive and high care units and forms part of the healthcare group’s partnership with German clinical AI developer Telehealth Competence Centre (TCC) Clinical Solutions GmbH.
The technology uses a machine learning algorithm and artificial neural network to analyse real-time patient information, including heart rate, blood pressure, oxygen saturation and respiratory rate. These measurements are continuously monitored through Netcare’s digital health platform.
According to Netcare, the system is designed to identify potential clinical risks before they become otherwise detectable, providing medical professionals with additional information to support treatment decisions.
Professor Reitze Rodseth, Netcare’s head of clinical data innovation and research, said the quick sequential organ failure assessment (qSOFA) score has already demonstrated value in critical care as an indicator of potential risks associated with serious conditions.
The companies are now seeking to expand the technology’s capabilities beyond its existing application. Rodseth said development is underway on models that could predict the risk of renal failure and serious respiratory difficulties requiring ventilation while patients are in hospital.
The technology could also potentially assess risks after a patient has been discharged, where necessary.
Professor Christian Storm, a specialist in internal medicine, intensive care and emergency medicine and chief executive officer and co-founder of TCC GmbH, said another clinical indicator being developed aims to calculate the probability of a patient being readmitted to intensive care after discharge.
The underlying algorithm was developed by TCC scientists and subsequently tested over several years by researchers from Netcare, TCC, the University of KwaZulu-Natal and DigitalOn Tech in South Africa.
The partnership between Netcare and TCC began in 2023, with patient data security identified as a fundamental consideration in the development and application of the technology.
Storm said real-time, high-frequency patient monitoring can provide data that supports AI-guided predictions of a person’s medical course, potentially helping medical teams identify situations where preventive treatment may be appropriate.
Dr Anchen Laubscher, Netcare’s group medical director, said the group’s increasing focus on data and AI forms part of its broader approach to person-centred healthcare.
She said clinical indicators generated by the technology can provide additional information to doctors when making treatment decisions and may create opportunities for earlier intervention.
If regulatory approval is granted, Netcare aims to become the South African distributor of the technology for wider use within its hospitals.
The application to Sahpra represents the next stage in the partnership and follows the completion of clinical testing intended to provide evidence supporting the technology’s potential use in South African healthcare settings.
