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Digital Innovation (Established Enterprises)

Winner

DXC Technology Singapore Pte Ltd

One of the largest threats to public health is antimicrobial resistance, where microorganisms such as viruses and bacteria become resistant to antimicrobial drugs including antibiotics. This arises from over- and inappropriate prescription, which can cause said microorganisms to mutate into superbugs that don’t respond to drug-based treatment. To combat this, hospitals have antimicrobial stewardship programmes (ASP) to optimise antibiotic prescription and selection with a clear prescribing based on the right diagnosis, for the right patient, using the right type of antibiotic at the right dose, for the right duration, and through the right route of administration.

For the project, Dr Andrea Kwa and Dr Jasmine Chung collaborated with DXC Technology to create an artificial intelligence (AI) models to support the ASP unit by prioritizing reviews of treatments which are likely to be inappropriate, and when the prescription is deemed to be inappropriate, another model provides recommendations on suitable alternatives. To do this, the ASP team and DXC had to draw on and navigate a vast range of institutional and patient data.

Results were promising in using the AI algorithm for cases involving antibiotic prescription for pneumonia: cases that required additional review were reduced to a third; while the possibility of identifying cases requiring intervention within the prioritized cases was increased by three times to 11.5 per cent – when compared to the full manual review process. With the antibiotic prescription solution AI model, physicians can better manage patient health, reducing hospital stays and lowering healthcare costs.

“DXC Technology has demonstrated that through digitization of information and digitalisation of processes, with applied AI, the journey of digital transformation can lead to a whole new frontier. This is especially meaningful in the healthcare industry.”

— Yeo Teck Guan, Chief Business Technology Officer,
Singapore Pools

The model can also learn continually over time with new patient data – improving recommendation accuracy. This project also paves the way for AI applications with other diseases in other ASPs all over the world — improving global antimicrobial stewardship.