Central is the development of an integrated triage solution (Acute Care Triage platform) that better connects ambulance services and hospitals. The system combines patients’ clinical data with information on travel times, available capacity, and treatment options at hospitals. This allows ambulance professionals to more quickly determine which hospital is most suitable for a specific patient.
According to project leader Maarten Lahr of the UMCG’s Department of Epidemiology, the impetus for the project lies in the current challenges within acute care: “In acute care, every minute counts. Yet patients with suspected stroke, cardiovascular problems, or severe trauma are still too often taken to a hospital that is inadequately equipped to handle their specific condition. This delays treatment and leads to avoidable complications, especially in sparsely populated regions.”
The new platform builds on existing innovations from various regions. The first implementation will take place in the Southwest Netherlands, followed by the Central and Northern Netherlands. Lahr: “Each region has its own characteristics, and local healthcare providers and administrators are closely involved in any implementation.”
Over the next three years, ACCESS aims to achieve three concrete goals: an integrated triage platform for neurological, traumatic, and cardiological emergencies; smart ambulance routing based on logistics software; and a link between ambulance and hospital data. This link is intended to provide healthcare providers with insight into the final diagnosis and patient outcomes, thereby creating a continuous learning system.
The goal is to take a significant step toward future-proof emergency care, in which patients are directed to the right place faster, care capacity is utilized more efficiently, and new knowledge is generated for further innovation in Dutch emergency care. Lahr: ‘With ACCESS, we are demonstrating that public healthcare improvement and private innovation reinforce each other.
For the first time, healthcare and logistics are collaborating on a single shared ambition: every Dutch citizen, no matter where they live, has the same opportunity to receive the best care in an emergency.”
The consortium will officially launch as a Strategic Public-Private Partnership (PPP), funded by Health Holland and TKI Dinalog. ACCESS brings together regional ambulance services, hospitals and research institutions (UMCG, Erasmus MC, UMC Utrecht, Amsterdam UMC, RUG, Research Institute of Mathematics & Computer Science (CWI) Amsterdam), private partners (Logiqcare, AZNConnect, TimeLab), Lygature; and with the involvement of the Dutch Heart Foundation, the Dutch Brain Foundation, and the Dutch CardioVascular Alliance together.
