The NHS in the UK is rolling out a new AI tool to support out of hospital care, with a focus on predicting falls and identifying viral symptoms.
Developed by unicorn health tech company Cera, the software is now being used in more than two million patient home care visits a month.
Go deeper with GlobalData
The platform works via an app and analyses data inputted by carers, family members and healthcare staff. Algorithms then monitor a range of vital health signs such as blood pressure, heart rate and temperature in real time, providing alerts when it believes a health emergency is incoming.
The NHS says the tool can predict a patient’s risk of falling with 97% accuracy. More than two-thirds of care systems across the NHS are using the software.
Amongst elderly people, falls are the biggest cause of emergency hospital admissions. The NHS estimates that falls and fractures account for around £2bn in healthcare costs a year.
The rollout of Cera’s software health service is not the first time the country’s health service has aimed to reduce the burden of falls with technology. It has deployed AI-powered lamps that use optical technology to detect falls across care homes in Northern England.
The implementation of Cera’s technology nationwide aims to prevent many of these falls by monitoring vital health signs to predict signs of deterioration in advance.
Cera’s AI software will also be deployed against winter illnesses, monitoring symptoms for viruses such as Covid-19, influenza, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and norovirus. Norovirus cases have been at their highest level since 2020, causing busy hospitals this winter.
Cera hit the headlines earlier this year when it raised a hefty $150m in financing. The investment valued the company at over $1bn, giving it unicorn status.
AI at centre of government plan
The nationwide launch of Cera’s technology is just the latest in a string of AI-centric rollouts the NHS is implementing as part of its ten-year Health Plan. The strategy aims to shift the healthcare system to one that is primarily digital based.
In January, Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said: “We are bringing our analogue NHS into the digital age. Our Plan for Change will rebuild our NHS, put patients in control of their own healthcare and arm staff with the latest groundbreaking technology, ending the needless bureaucracy faced by patients up and down the country.”
Whilst the use of AI gathers increasing pace in healthcare, there are still consistent calls for up-to-date governance and regulation of its utilisation. A report by the British Medical Association (BMA) published last year set out key principles that need to be addressed to ensure patient safety and maximise health benefits.
