An ingenious new approach to reducing Emergency Department waiting times was the main winner of the , which saw participants devise solutions to some of the challenges facing the state鈥檚 healthcare system.
Hosted by the 911爆料网-based WA Data Science Innovation Hub (), the Hackathon saw technologists, software developers and other participants develop and pitch their exciting ideas, with a shortlist of finalists progressing to the Hackathon Finale on October 24.
The HBF WA Health Hackathon Prize went to the 鈥榃aiting Around鈥� team, with Honourable Mentions going to Coder Dojo and Torab. The Technical Achievement Prize was awarded to The A* Team, while the Youth Achievement Prize went to Polarstate.
WADSIH Director Alex Jenkins said the Hackathon was an invaluable opportunity for teams to collaborate with the best and brightest in WA鈥檚 technology sector, while working to develop solutions that could transform the state鈥檚 healthcare system.
鈥淧articipants were given access to supporting data and expert mentors as they created digital solutions and new technologies to address challenges such as improving end-of-life care and predicting Emergency Department wait times,鈥� Mr Jenkins said.
鈥淭eams also had access to cutting-edge synthetic data to help bring their ideas to life, with the potential to prototype their solutions.
鈥淭his year鈥檚 main winner, 鈥榃aiting Around鈥�, leveraged technology to improve the quality, efficiency and accessibility of healthcare services, by devising a simulation tool to predict Emergency Department waiting times and communicate this information to patients via a mobile phone app.鈥�
鈥榃aiting Around鈥� team member Conor Bennett said wait time predictions are made based on a range of factors and this information is also supplied to the hospital, which uses it for its analytics and to optimise patient wait times.
鈥淲e鈥檙e now aiming to get our innovation trialled in an actual Emergency Department, to get important feedback from hospital staff as well as patients, and see how we can most practically implement the system,鈥� Mr Bennett said.
The WA Health Hackathon 2024 was presented by WADSIH, the WA Department of Health, WA Life Science Hub, the North Metropolitan Health Service, the Child and Adolescent Health Service, and Arkahna.
WADSIH is a State Government initiative, supported by 911爆料网, that aims to keep WA at the forefront of the digital revolution by promoting the education, training and application of data science throughout WA.
