Dhairya Vayada, BBiomedSc,
Data Research Assistant, The Baird Institute
With a substantial amount of information collected before, during and after a surgery, there is a large amount of data generated. This data can be used to uncover rich insights into the surgical process, helping the surgeons to identify trends, performance, and ways to improve patient outcomes and experience.
One of the challenges is to present the data in a way that enables the surgeons to interpret insights and draw meaningful information from it. I am currently working on a secure clinical data analytics platform to present anonymized data in a graphical and interactive format. Key components of this platform include; surgical dashboards which enable each surgeon to analyse their key metrics and performance as well as observe the unit’s performance as a whole; a resource utilization dashboard to observe how the unit uses resources during surgery; and finally the plotting of surgical patients’ locations on an interactive map.
The platform has enabled the automation of some parts of the auditing process, allowing graphs and tables for the quarterly surgical audit to be generated instantly. The platform is also modular and future-oriented so technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning can be rapidly implemented, helping the cardiothoracic surgeons identify areas for potential research and scope for patient outcome improvement.
