If AI could do your safety rounds for you
Would it be able to tell you anything you didn’t already know?
I’ve been ruminating a bit about how AI is going to impact safety operations. I think there’s probably going to be some kind of benefit, maybe managing deficiencies more efficiently. I know that “learning” is a fundamental component of AI, and I like to think that every time I’m rounding it’s an opportunity to learn something new (I never grow tired of seeing new things or old things in a new way). I don’t know that AI will attempt to replace the wandering eyes of a safety professional, but it does make me think about using AI to remind folks to do things “the right way,” (although I'm not really sure how that might be applied out in the care environment).
One only needs to take a short drive to recognize that what was once considered a "never" event—like not stopping at a stop sign or not yielding to oncoming traffic—now seem (at least in practice) to be rather quaint and old-fashioned, (and incredibly irksome, not to mention a little on the dangerous side of things). I can definitely see a world in which vehicles are equipped with an AI capability that overrides those (primal?) urges to scoff at traditions (OK, some would call them laws, but let's not quibble about that right now), which would nominally make things safer (I hope). But is there a way to use AI to leverage compliance in the care environment?
While I like to think of things like doors that refuse to be propped open or zone shutoff valves that refuse to be blocked (and, to some degree, I chuckle thinking about hearing: "hey, don't park that there" or "hey, what are you doing with the wooden wedge”), I don't think that's going to happen any time soon. Perhaps existing security camera systems can be upgraded to provide an additional set of "eyes" to help intervene a little closer in time to the action that results in a deficiency (can you imagine being able to monitor above the ceiling). I suppose anything that seems impossible now could become easy peasy as time goes on. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing how this rapidly evolving technology can be used to make things safer in the environment. Though (as we learned during the pandemic and the use of remote regulatory surveys), there's nothing like a fresh pair of eyes to discover all manner of stuff.
About the Author: Steve MacArthur is a safety consultant with The Chartis Group. He brings more than 30 years of healthcare management and consulting experience to his work with hospitals, physician offices, and ambulatory care facilities across the country. He is the author of HCPro's Hospital Safety Director's Handbook and is an advisory board member for Accreditation and Quality Compliance Center. Contact Steve at stevemacsafetyspace@gmail.com.