Invest for children collaborates with the Clinical Command Center (CCC). The CCC is part of the digital transformation of Hospital Sant Joan de Déu in Barcelona, within the “Liquid Hospital” concept initiated in 2009. Its purpose is to optimise medical care, ensuring that patients spend as little time as possible in the hospital, reducing unnecessary travel and hospital stays. By using advanced technology and artificial intelligence, the CCC enables a shift from a reactive to a proactive and predictive model of care, anticipating medical needs and improving decision-making.
The CCC operates under six strategic pillars:
- Patient flow monitoring
- Proactive monitoring and alerts
- Scoring & Prediction
- Digital Twin
- Copilot
- Data management area
- Patient flow monitoring
This area focuses on tracking patient movements within the hospital in real time, similar to an airport control tower but in a healthcare setting. By using this technology, staff and resources can be better coordinated, optimising clinical tasks according to urgency and necessity.
Key benefits include:
- Improved operational efficiency and better patient and family experience.
- Optimisation of resources, such as beds, staff, and medical equipment.
- Centralised communication between clinical and administrative teams.
Notable examples:
- Bed occupancy map: displays hospital occupancy in real time and predicts the number of available beds for the following morning.
- Patient complexity algorithm: helps distribute the workload across different hospital units.
- Proactive monitoring and alerts
The CCC also promotes remote home patient monitoring, reducing unnecessary hospitalisations and enabling continuous tracking of medical conditions through real-time connected devices.
Key developments:
- Type 1 diabetes patients: an AI algorithm identifies those at risk of decompensation, activating preventive interventions by a “Cloud Nurse.”
- Chronic patient monitoring: over 200 patients with chronic conditions receive digital monitoring, allowing seamless integration of data between primary care and specialists.
- Eating disorders: a system has been implemented where patients weigh themselves without seeing the result, but the data is analysed in real time by the CCC.
- Microbiological cultures: a system is being designed to detect positive results for severe infections, optimising antibiotic administration.
- Scoring & Prediction
This area focuses on using clinical assessment tools and predictive models to anticipate adverse events, improving patient care and reducing risks.
Key innovations:
- Pain scoring system: allows real-time visualisation of pain levels for all patients, ensuring rapid intervention.
- Predictive models for sepsis and respiratory failure: analyse ICU patient data every 30 seconds, anticipating severe complications.
These predictive models have led to fewer unnecessary hospitalisations, improved patient safety, and better resource management.
- Digital Twin
The Digital Twin is a real-time virtual replica of the hospital, allowing simulation, analysis, and optimisation of hospital operations.
Key benefits:
- Simulation of various scenarios (increased patient admissions, protocol changes, pandemic impact).
- Improved resource and patient flow management.
- Personalised treatments by forecasting the impact of different interventions.
A key example is its use during the COVID-19 pandemic, where it helped plan resource redistribution and assess different scenarios before making critical decisions.
- Copilot
The Copilot is an assistant based on Generative Artificial Intelligence, designed to enhance real-time decision-making within the CCC.
Key functions:
- Analyses real-time data flows, identifying patterns and alerting clinicians about possible deterioration in patients.
- Simulates scenarios and optimises resource allocation.
- Reduces cognitive load for clinical staff by prioritising relevant information.
By implementing this system, medical teams can focus on strategic interventions without being overwhelmed by large volumes of data.
- Data management area
The Data Office plays a critical role in ensuring efficient, secure, and strategic data management within the CCC.
Main responsibilities:
- Ensuring data quality, accessibility, and security in hospital systems.
- Implementing AI models to enhance decision-making.
- Ensuring compliance with data protection regulations (such as GDPR).
Key roles within the Data Office:
- Chief Data Officer (CDO): Oversees the hospital’s overall data strategy.
- Data Scientists: Analyse data and develop predictive models.
- Data Engineers: Design and maintain data infrastructures.
- Information Security Specialists: Protect patient data privacy and security.
With this structured approach, the CCC can integrate real-time data and provide precise predictive analytics, improving patient care and hospital resource management.
The Clinical Command Centre at Hospital Sant Joan de Déu represents an innovative hospital management model based on technology, artificial intelligence, and data analytics. Its proactive and predictive approach enables:
- Reducing unnecessary hospitalisations and improving patient experience.
- Optimising hospital resource allocation.
- Enhancing emergency response capabilities.
- Promoting real-time, data-driven decision-making.
By integrating predictive models, telemedicine, artificial intelligence, and data analytics, the CCC is becoming a global benchmark in the evolution of digital healthcare systems.
