Shreveport, LA - As the expected increase in viral respiratory infections over the winter months looms ominously in distance, more urgent care clinics are turning to artificial intelligence software for help in the diagnosis and treatment of sick patients.
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| Dr. Feldstrom, shown here agreeing with his computer algorithm's assessment that a 3-year-old child with fever and a runny nose needs a chest x-ray, a blood culture, and 5 days of steroids |
"If this winter is anything like the last one, we are going to be extremely busy," Flip Feldstrom, MD, a unit of physician employed at Ratchet City Urgent Care, which is a part of the Willis-Knighton Health System, the largest healthcare provider in northwest Louisiana, explained. "It's nice to have support when deciding if a child with a cold should get a Z-Pak, a dose of intramuscular ceftriaxone, or both."
Vigilance, the artificial intelligence program being put into use at Ratchet City Urgent Care, was designed by a team of computer engineers hired by the Willis-Knighton Health System. According to team leader Coy Gauthier, the design process involved months of close observation of urgent care practice in real time in order to help teach the developing AI how to approach a wide variety of clinical scenarios. "Which toddlers with a bug bite need systemic steroids? Which babies with reflux need an abdominal ultrasound? Which child that vomited once needs a completed metabolic panel and a bolus of normal saline? We were having a lot of trouble with inconsistent recommendations from the program early on, but once we realized that outside academic medical resources were confusing it, we cut off access and things really fell into place."
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