The Althaia Foundation is launching an innovative project to prevent falls in frail hospitalized patients using artificial intelligence. In collaboration with Robbie AI, this initiative aims to help healthcare professionals anticipate fall risks and take preventive actions. The pilot study has shown remarkable success, reducing falls by 90% and recording no falls in the involved units over the past three months.
“Among the most notable results is the low rate of false positives. Robbie AI is the only solution that accurately identifies real fall risks, which is crucial for nursing teams managing numerous alerts daily,” said Bartomeu Ayala, head of Social and Health Innovation at the Althaia Foundation.
Robbie AI employs real-time computer vision to monitor patients’ body movements and facial expressions, predicting and preventing fall risks. When a potential fall risk is detected, the system sends customizable alerts to the nursing staff, giving them time to intervene.
Over the past two years, the pilot study has been conducted in the Acute Geriatrics Unit at Sant Joan de Déu Hospital in Manresa and the Long Stay Unit at the Hospital Center. This phase involved fine-tuning Robbie AI’s workflow to meet the specific needs of hospital staff and evaluating its effectiveness. The AI algorithm was trained based on alerts provided by the healthcare team.
This implementation of AI at the Althaia Foundation demonstrates how technology can enhance patient safety in hospitals and could serve as a model for other healthcare institutions.
Key Findings:
- The system sent an average of 16 alerts per day per bed, and 26 alerts for high-risk patients, with 100% reliability and less than 1% false positives.
- Alerts cover various risk behaviors such as getting out of bed or struggling to sit, with a 90% reduction in fall incidents observed.
- The response time averaged 60 seconds, and the distance between professionals and patients was about 100 meters.
- Robbie AI’s technology has been tested with over 2 billion images and 10,000 patients, ensuring privacy by removing patient data.
“Robbie AI’s ability to accurately differentiate real fall risks makes it invaluable for nursing teams,” Ayala added.
Karen Marquez, CEO and co-founder of Robbie AI, highlighted, “Althaia’s dedication to patient safety makes them an ideal partner. Their collaboration has enabled us to achieve results that could benefit other healthcare centers.”
About the Althaia Foundation
Althaia is a private, non-profit organization providing comprehensive healthcare in Central Catalonia. It focuses on delivering quality health and social services while prioritizing teaching, research, and innovation. As part of the Catalonia public health system (SISCAT), Althaia operates 407 acute care beds, 26 home care beds, 60 private beds, and 84 dependency care beds.
About Robbie AI
Robbie AI targets the $1 trillion patient safety market with its True Predictive AI technology. Its primary focus is on preventing falls, a major issue costing the global health system over $250 billion annually and contributing to significant declines in quality of life and increased mortality among older adults. Developed through a seven-year R&D project supported by Horizon 2020, Robbie AI addresses critical societal challenges in healthcare.
