Artificial intelligence (AI) isn’t exactly new technology. But exploring its potential to improve health care for people living in rural and remote Australia represents an exciting new frontier for the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS).
This week, the RFDS hosted its first ever Hack-AI-Thon event – transforming its Adelaide aeromedical base into an AI showcase.
The event brought together multidisciplinary teams made up of health, government, research and industry partners, to pioneer and present real-world digital solutions to health challenges facing isolated communities.
“When the RFDS was founded back in 1928, it didn’t start with an aeroplane – it started with the idea that technology could connect people to care,” RFDS Federation Chief Executive Emma Buchanan said.
“Almost 100 years later, we’re still collaborating to find new ways, better ways, to use technology to connect people to care.
“This is not about replacing the people who do the caring – it's about empowering them. It’s about giving our crews and clinicians the tools they need to make faster, safer, smarter decisions in the moments that matter most.”
The two teams were tasked with rethinking the status quo and exploring how AI could enhance and expedite patient-centric care.
Virtual care reimagined with AI >
One concept introduced video to track a patient’s vital signs including body temperature, pulse and respiration rates, enabling clinicians to assess and treat outback patients from afar via telehealth with boosted accuracy.
The AI tool builds on the new RFDS Virtual Emergency Centre at William Creek in outback South Australia, aiming to expedite and elevate the triage and delivery of life-saving care/treatment – without a health professional onsite.
Aeromedical patient experience enhanced with AI >
Another idea showcased a speech-to-text tool capable of handling the noisy RFDS aircraft cabin environment, freeing clinicians from manual data entry and affording more hands-on time with patients during flight.
The RFDS’s bespoke Electronic Health Record is enabling RFDS clinicians to spend more time focussing on patient care than paperwork, but AI can help delete even more valuable minutes spent on input.
While these ideas remain in early development, the RFDS looks forward to sharing more as prototypes evolve – always with a commitment to ensuring digital innovations enhance care that is clinically and culturally ethical and safe.
Providing commentary on the night as the Hack-AI-Thon ‘expert panel’ was:
- Professor Fiona Wood AO, plastic and reconstructive surgeon and RFDS Western Operations Board Member;
- Dr Zoran Bolevich, Chief Executive Officer, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare;
- Amanda Cattermole PSM, Chief Executive Officer, Australian Digital Health Agency; and
- Chris Griffith, technology journalist.
Professor Fiona Wood AO:
"It's been fantastic to see that entire concept of, ‘We've got a clinical problem, we want to solve it better and how are we going to do this.’
"AI is here to stay – it's not going away – and engagement at that front edge, driving AI for solutions is really exciting.
“We’re pushing the boundaries of knowledge and building momentum for innovation in rural and remote health.”
Dr Zoran Bolevich, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare:
"Health has always been a good adopter of new technologies. The RFDS is a great example – they’ve been doing it for 100 years.
“What's interesting about AI technology is the pace of its development and the acceleration of that pace… I don't think we've seen anything that's been developing this quickly and this dramatically in a very long time.
“One insight from me for tonight is about the RFDS itself. I always knew the organisation provided an amazing clinical service … but what I now realise is you are champions and innovators of remote, rural and regional health in Australia.”
Amanda Cattermole PSM, Australian Digital Health Agency:
"The thing that really strikes me about the environment (tonight) is the collaboration – across disciplines, across teams, across parts of the system – is like nothing we've seen before.
"These things are so complex and interdisciplinary, they need all of us coming together.”
Chris Griffith:
“Some of this stuff is groundbreaking.
“What I thought was really interesting was taking on what has been the most siloed sector in terms of data and trying to unify it into a single system that can be used efficiently from aircraft.”
Thank you to our partners >
The RFDS acknowledges the vital collaboration and support of its partners across health, research, industry and government in progressing this digital vision.
This includes members RFDS AI in Health Advisory Committee and collaborators: Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Australian Digital Health Agency, Digital Transformation Agency, CSIRO, NACCHO, Charles Darwin University, Australian National University, DXC Technology, GenesisCare, EBOS HealthCare, NBN Co, IBM, UNCAPT, Oracle and NexusMD.
