By Humber Staff

Humber River Health’s Apotex Emergency Department (ED) is the busiest in the province, hosting almost twice as many ambulances as neighbouring hospitals. The ED team, caring for a large and diverse patient population daily, faces the critical task of delivering prompt and effective care under constant pressure. Humber is responding to this challenge by building a digital health platform that will ultimately reduce the time patients spend waiting in the ED.

The tool will use artificial intelligence (AI) to simulate patient flow and assign a flexible time slot to each patient based on urgency, resource availability and real-time ED activity. Unlike fixed appointments, these time slots will be dynamically adjusted based on real-time patient volume and physician staffng, accounting for the unpredictable nature of emergency care.

Humber’s Chief Information Officer, Peter Bak, emphasizes, “Our goal is not just to manage patient queues but to revolutionize how patients interact with our ED. We are shifting from a static to a dynamic, patient-centred approach.”

Once launched, instead of going directly to the ED, patients will have the option to access an online portal from the comfort of their home, where they can key in their symptoms and registration information. Patients needing immediate care will be promptly directed to call 911 or go to the nearest ED, while those with less urgent or less serious healthcare needs will be allocated a time slot for their visit and given the option to wait at home. Rather than siting for hours in a busy waiting room, these patients can arrive within a more realistic window of being seen.

“We are continuously leveraging technology to work for staff, physicians and community,” adds Barb Collins, Humber’s President and CEO. “AI furthers our ability to revolutionize the patient experience and deliver even higher-quality care, resulting in a better patient journey from start to finish.”

This groundbreaking project is backed by a grant from Canadian-based innovation group SCALE AI through the AI for Healthcare Initiative. Humber will work with partners Deloitte and the MEDITECH Collaborative to test this initiative. While the hospital is responsible for integrating the AI application within its ED operations and providing primary data for AI learning, Deloitte will take the lead in ensuring it aligns with Humber’s operational needs.

To read our full magazine, Care Closer to Home, click here.