ForME

Project descpription:

Hospital patients can sometimes suddenly become critically ill while they are on a hospital ward. These deteriorations are often recognized too late, resulting in avoidable emergency situations, intensive care admissions, or even death. Rapid response systems like Medical Emergency Teams (METs) aim to improve early detection and management of such patients. However, despite such systems, early warning signs are often missed because current monitoring depends on intermittent checks by healthcare staff and is prone to human
interpretation and error.
The CODEPAT project (“Characteristics and Outcomes of Deteriorating Patients”) aims to improve the early detection of deterioration by developing an artificial intelligence (AI) model that can identify high-risk patients based on existing hospital data. In this project, we are analyzing ten years of hospital records from Kantonsspital Aarau (KSA) to identify patterns that precede clinical deterioration. Our goal is to build a model that can reliably predict when patients are at risk, allowing clinicians to intervene earlier. Future phases of the project (not part of this application) will include implementation of the AI model into the hospital IT system
and automated alerts sent to the MET in case of impending deterioration.
The proposed ForMe grant will fund protected research time for Dr. med. Alexander Hoffmann, a senior intensive care specialist at KSA with expertise in clinical care, rapid response systems and medical informatics. Dr. Hoffmann will play a key role in bringing together clinical knowledge and technical implementation. He will work closely with the KSA Data Science team and the ETH Zurich AI research team to prepare high-quality, structured hospital data and ensure that the predictive models are clinically meaningful and usable. His contribution will be essential in validating and preparing the AI system for future clinical use.
This project is highly relevant to improving patient safety, reducing preventable complications, and strengthening innovation at the intersection of medicine and technology in Aargau.

About Alexander Hoffmann:

Dr. med. Alexander Hoffmann, an ICU senior physician at Kantonsspital Aarau, has a Doctor of Medicine (summa cum laude) from the University of Cologne (Germany) and FMH titles in Critical Care and  Anaesthesiology from the Swiss Medical Association. Dr. Hoffmann's lifelong passion for digital innovation led him to develop proficiency in open-source systems and technology integration in a clinical setting. Through his engagement in a number of major international clinical trials at the University Hospital Bern, he gained comprehensive expertise in clinical trial design, data management and regulatory compliance. Since returning to Kantonsspital Aarau in 2022 as Senior ICU Physician, Dr. Hoffmann has spearheaded numerous patient safety initiatives.