**South Australia**: RAPIDx AI, a novel cardiac artificial intelligence tool, is trialled across hospitals aiming to support emergency care professionals in diagnosing cardiac conditions swiftly and accurately, while addressing usability challenges faced by less experienced staff.
RAPIDx AI, a cardiac artificial intelligence tool, has been recently trialled in hospitals throughout South Australia, utilising a novel AI assessment platform known as PROLIFERATE_AI, which aims to evaluate the effectiveness of AI in supporting medical professionals in emergency departments (EDs). The tool’s development has been spearheaded by Dr Maria Alejandra Pinero de Plaza and her research team from Flinders University, with a focus on human-centric AI applications within healthcare settings.
The context for this innovation arises from the prevalence of chest pain as a leading cause for patient visits to emergency departments. To address this issue, RAPIDx AI is designed to enable emergency doctors to make swift and accurate diagnoses of cardiac conditions by rapidly processing both clinical and biochemical information. The initiative forms part of a National Health and Medical Research Council-funded trial encompassing 12 hospitals across metropolitan and rural areas of South Australia, and is currently evaluating a 12-month patient outcome data set.
In an interview, Dr Pinero de Plaza stated, “AI is becoming more common in healthcare, but it doesn’t always fit in smoothly with the vital work of our doctors and nurses. We need to confirm these systems are trustworthy and work consistently for everyone, ensuring they are able to support medical teams rather than slowing them down.” This highlights the importance of ensuring the AI tool integrates effectively into existing clinical workflows.
Medical and nursing staff at the trial’s participating hospitals were afforded the opportunity to offer their insights regarding their interactions with the RAPIDx AI system. The findings indicated that while seasoned clinicians, such as ED consultants and registrars, exhibited a high level of understanding and engagement with the tool, less experienced staff, including residents and interns, encountered usability challenges. Registered nurses expressed strong emotional engagement with RAPIDx AI, recognising its potential to enhance patient safety by diminishing diagnostic uncertainties.
“In order to understand if the AI systems are viable, we look at how easy they are to use, how well doctors and nurses adopt them, and how they impact patient care,” Dr Pinero de Plaza elaborated. The study emphasised the need for targeted training and user-interface design that aligns with clinical workflows to improve usage rates among newer medical personnel.
The research findings underscored that while consultants and registrars gained the most advantage from RAPIDx AI, there remains a clear need for further development of the tool’s interface to facilitate automated data integration. Dr Pinero de Plaza stressed the importance of creating AI solutions that enhance, rather than replace, the roles of medical professionals by stating, “Our goal is to create AI solutions that empower doctors and nurses, not replace them. Technology alone cannot solve the complexities of emergency care.”
The PROLIFERATE_AI assessment tool stands out for its focus on delivering actionable insights, with Dr Pinero de Plaza observing, “Rather than focusing solely on technical performance, we evaluate AI tools based on real-world usability and clinician trust, ensuring that these technologies are not just innovative but also practical and accessible.” She also mentioned a vision to set a new standard for the implementation of AI within healthcare, particularly within the realm of emergency medicine.
A comprehensive paper titled ‘Human-centred AI for emergency cardiac care: evaluating RAPIDx AI with PROLIFERATE_AI’, detailing this study, is set to be published as open access in the International Journal of Medical Informatics in 2025. Readers can access it via the assigned DOI link for further insight into this significant advancement in cardiac care technology.
Source: Noah Wire Services
