Out of the ivory tower! It can, was the premature conclusion of his presentation. But AI is not a panacea. Prof Dr Johannes Knobloch advocated a middle course between generalized prevention measures - i.e. ’one size fits all’ - and measures that are adapted as far as possible to the actual risk situation on site on site in terms of scope and implementation. Cost pressures in the healthcare sector alone make such an approach necessary. ’Standard precaution measures are the standards that should be applied to all patients in the future,’ says Prof Dr Johannes Knobloch. However, measures that go beyond standard precautions should be individualised in the future. According to the IPC specialist, AI can provide valuable assistance in assessing infection risks and selecting appropriate infection prevention measures. For use in the clinical environment, a powerful IPC AI has a decisive advantage over human IPC teams: the AI is available around the clock! More research for better data The key word in the previous sentence is ’powerful’. In order to use AI effectively, IPC algorithms need to be able to learn with meaningful data from hospital practice. According to Prof Dr Johannes Knobloch, this means that infections and all relevant data must be recorded correctly and automatically in hospital information systems! ’The goal is evidence-based risk assessment based on real data,’ says Prof Dr Knobloch. However, many of the measures currently recommended are In his keynote speech, Prof Dr Johannes Knobloch, Head of Hospital Hygiene Department - Institute of Medical Microbiology, Virology and Hygiene at the University Medical Center HamburgEppendorf (UKE), ventured a look into the future - and a creative play with the possibilities of artificial intelligence. The IPC specialist was particularly interested in whether and how artificial intelligence - AI - can actually help to improve infection prevention and patient safety in everyday hospital life. opinion-driven and need to be scrutinised for evidence. ’Based on insufficiently specific publications and data, AI is currently not very suitable as a concrete decision-making tool’. Future tasks for IPC teams will include analysing the effectiveness of interventions and assessing technical and procedural risks. ’The use of AI will massively change IPC teams in the future’. New professional groups such as IT specialists will have to become part of such teams, according to Prof Dr Johannes Knobloch. Finally, the IPC specialist left the audience with a take-home message: ’We now have to think about how AI can be integrated into everyday working life.’ What can happen when an algorithm acts on the basis of a database fed with prejudices was vividly illustrated by an image Prof Dr Johannes Knobloch had created with AI to accompany his presentation: it shows a male nurse with a nurse‘s cap on his head. Challenges and prospects for the future of hospital hygiene in practice Picture credit: Canva Magic Studio 1OO YEARS BODE CHEMIE 11
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