Revolutionising Surgery Scheduling: an innovative AI-powered health-tech platform enhancing Operating Room efficiency, with an automated schedule unlocking the potential for an additional 10% or 350K surgeries annually in the UK.

OpalFlow是一家总部位于英国的数字医疗中小企业，其核心项目团队由Natalie Cooke首席执行官（注册护士/国际医疗保健管理硕士）和Radovan Vitek首席技术官（全栈开发人员/软件工程硕士）组成。英国有超过700万人等待择期手术，特别是等待髋关节和膝关节置换术以及癌症治疗的患者。这些人的状况不断恶化，对他们的身心健康产生了负面影响。对于癌症患者来说，即使手术延迟四周，死亡风险也会增加6- 8%。此外，手术室（OR）的利用率不足导致每年约350，000例手术的机会被错过，进一步延长了等待名单并削弱了公众对系统的信心。OpalFlow旨在通过开发一个全面的基于AI的网络和移动的应用程序来解决这些挑战，用于OR调度。该平台自动化管理手术室容量的各个方面，有可能将手术数量增加10%。该项目的主要重点将是等待髋关节和膝关节置换的患者，特别是那些经历严重慢性疼痛的患者。中部地区拥有英国最长的髋关节和膝关节置换等待名单（<150，000人），将从OpalFlow增加该地区手术数量的努力中受益匪浅。这一举措与NHS交付计划直接一致，解决了COVID-19大流行导致的择期护理积压问题。该计划概述了未来三年恢复选择性服务的明确目标，使OpalFlow的项目在支持该计划的目标方面具有及时性和价值。

OpalFlow is a UK-based digital health SME with a core project team of Natalie Cooke CEO (Registered Nurse/MSc International Healthcare Management) and Radovan Vitek CTO (full-stack developer/MSc Software Engineering).The UK's extensive waiting list for elective surgeries, which exceeds 7 million people, particularly impacts patients awaiting hip and knee replacements and cancer treatments. These individuals experience deteriorating conditions that have a negative impact on their mental and physical well-being. For cancer patients, even a four-week delay in receiving surgery increases the risk of mortality by 6-8%. Additionally, the underutilisation of Operating Rooms (ORs) results in a missed opportunity for approximately 350,000 surgeries annually, further prolonging waiting lists and undermining public confidence in the system.OpalFlow aims to address these challenges by developing a comprehensive AI-based web and mobile app for OR scheduling. The platform automates all aspects of managing OR capacity with the potential to increase the number of surgeries by up to 10%.The project's primary focus will be on patients waiting for hip and knee replacements, especially those experiencing severe chronic pain. The Midlands, with the longest waiting list for hip and knee replacements in the UK (<150,000 people), will benefit significantly from OpalFlow's efforts to increase the number of surgeries in this region.This initiative aligns directly with the NHS Delivery plan, addressing the backlog of elective care resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. The plan outlines clear goals for the recovery of elective services over the next three years, making OpalFlow's project opportune and valuable in supporting the plan's objectives.