As we begin a new year at OSF HealthCare, we’re reflecting on 2024 and the major strides in digital transformation to make access to care and health information seamless for our patients. At OSF, we continue to collaborate with our academic and business partners to leverage collective expertise and to responsibly use the power of artificial intelligence, always taking care to use guiding principles of what is fair, appropriate, valid, effective and safe (FAVES).

The efforts are highlighted here in our Top 10 Digital Health and Innovation stories of 2024 in no particular order.

1. OSF Unveils new 55+ primary care service in south suburban Chicago: Called OSF Complete Care 55+, this is a unique collaboration between OSF HealthCare Little Company of Mary Medical Center and OSF OnCall, the digital arm of the health care Ministry. When launched in early 2025, this primary care program will incorporate in-person visits, plus a mix of virtual care, digital health monitoring tools and 24/7 access to a care team focusing on those with chronic conditions.

2. Building an AI prepared workforce: OSF HealthCare leaders took just six weeks to develop mandatory training about generative AI for all 24,000 OSF Mission Partners (employees) because tools were already publicly available. Melissa Knuth, Vice President of Planning, outlines that to rise to the challenge, she worked with OSF Innovation to use mixed media to keep the content interesting and tapped generative AI tools to assist with the content creation.

3. OSF Digital Hospital patients in Rockford area say it’s the best medicine: OSF OnCall expands its digital hospital program to Rockford and receives rave reviews from some of its first patients. In addition, a well-known farm broadcaster shares her story about receiving acute-level care from the comfort of her own home and urges others who are eligible to consider the option.

4. OSF Innovation sets the table for solution to prevent cancelled surgeries: Two OSF HealthCare nurses turned to the OSF Innovation Studio team to help improve their Device Table software that serves as a database for implanted medical devices – offering information needed for surgical teams to reference for safety in surgery planning. We also reported on the creation of a spin-off company, OpenSurg, which will license and promote widespread sales of Device Table and related support features.

5. OSF HealthCare experts: ‘Establish guiding principles when developing digital care strategy’: OSF OnCall was a spotlight vendor and presenter at this year’s American Telemedicine Association’s annual Nexus conference in Phoenix, Arizona. OSF OnCall Senior Vice President Jennifer Junis advised during her presentation that health systems use guiding principles when developing their approach to digital health and to involve clinicians and patients when piloting new programs and digital tools. OSF HealthCare has also become a founding member of an ATA Digital Center of Excellence.

6. Mapping the future for early diagnosis of rare diseases: A Jump ARCHES grant-funded project with the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is using generative AI and knowledge graphs that map symptoms to detect rare diseases. Adam Cross, MD, who leads the OSF Children's Innovation Lab in Peoria, Illinois, wants to create a point-of-care tool for primary care providers to help patients get an early diagnosis of a rare disease.

7. Health economist: Connectivity and trust can expand telehealth: OSF OnCall hosted its first-ever digital health symposium which drew nearly 150 clinicians and vendors. Keynote speaker health economist and advisor Jane Sarasohn-Kahn stressed evidence-based digital technologies can improve health outcomes, but health systems need to build trust and expand community partnerships to increase engagements.

8. Fast-Tracking Hope: Rapid Intake at the OSF Cancer Institute: OSF HealthCare began 2024 with the opening of its new comprehensive Cancer Institute, offering advanced radiation therapy such as brachytherapy and proton beam therapy.  It also launched a new rapid intake system, developed by OSF OnCall and OSF Innovation to offer a single point of contact through OSF-HOPE (844- 673-4467) so cancer patients can be immediately connected to treatment and support services.

9. Piloting a smarter colonoscopy: OSF HealthCare St. Joseph Medical Center piloted artificial intelligence-backed colonoscopies, using a company called GI Genius, to improve detection of precancerous polyps. During the pilot, the adenoma detection rate (ADR) averages increased among all patients involved to as high as 12%, while individual physician ADR increased as high as 32.8%. The technology is now being implemented across the OSF Ministry.

10. Testing the path to better concussion diagnosis: An OSF Innovation lab-designed FlightPath app is now being tested by athletes at Illinois State, Bradley and Illinois Wesleyan Universities. The app only takes about two minutes to collect more than a million data points as a person tries to catch a hummingbird within a 3D space on a screen. The clinical trial could last two years. 

Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa recently suffered his third confirmed concussion in 25 months – just another reminder that football and other contact sports pose the threat of a traumatic brain injury.  Research indicates it’s important to accurately and immediately diagnose a concussion because the consequences of misdiagnosis or faulty management can lead to major disability or death.

Illinois State University senior Cyerra Hibbert knows about concussions. She’s had multiple ones while playing soccer in high school and at ISU, the most recent just a month ago. Hibbert is one of the first athletes to test a new FlightPath concussion app. The lead app developer is *Adam Cross, MD, a pediatric hospitalist and clinical informaticist for OSF HealthCare and director of the OSF Children’s Innovation Lab at Jump Simulation & Education Center in Peoria, Illinois. He is working with co-lead Inki Kim, of the Health Care Engineering Systems Center at the Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

The concussion assessment app is a grant-funded project through Jump ARCHES, a research collaborative that partners teams of clinicians and engineers working together to improve patient outcomes and reduce health care costs. The FlightPath app is being tested at Illinois State, Illinois Wesleyan and Bradley Universities as part of a clinical trial and research coalition.  Hibbert used the FlightPath app after receiving instructions from her athletic trainer six days after she received a blow to the head during a game.

Hibbert was able to finish the test. It only takes about two minutes to collect more than a million data points as a person tries to catch a hummingbird within a 3D space on a screen.

“After a while it did bring a little confusion or if I wasn’t aware of where the bird flew on or off the screen, that did trick a little bit of my memory and concentration skills, so I do think it’s definitely approachable," Hibbert explains. “It’s definitely doable. I think just based on your outcome will determine where you are in your concussion level.”

Dr. Cross says the single biggest risk factor for prolonged time to recovery is delayed diagnosis, so FlightPath is his answer with its ability to diagnose a concussion within minutes. His research team has done some internal testing.

“Regarding how well it detects differences in impairments with people – how well they can determine if someone is functioning, acting appropriately, or if there's if there's something else going on. The challenge has been really doing that with individuals that have true concussion,” says Dr. Cross.

Athletes with a suspected concussion are challenged by FlightPath to walk in their environment while trying to keep a hummingbird in a bubble on the screen.

“The players themselves are trying out this app while concussed after having been consented earlier on in the year so that we can get data around how they perform with this app while concussed versus not concussed, and comparing that to the normal, typical present-day evaluation techniques that the trainers perform.”

Dr. Cross stresses, right now, the clinical trial does not involve trainers using the app to help make decisions. He says the research is not that far along and data collection needs to happen first. But, Karan Rai, MD, a sports medicine physician with OSF HealthCare who also serves as the team doctor for ISU Athletics, says eventually, the data from FlightPath could help beyond diagnosis.

“It in turn can help us with making prognoses, coming up with recovery timelines, implementing certain vestibular therapy. Other than diagnostic purposes, we can extrapolate that data to help us come up with a better treatment plan as well.”

Takes the pressure off
Both Hibbert and Dr. Rai are excited to be part of what they consider ground-breaking research that has the potential for helping athletes in the future. Hibbert, who plans to go into medical sales, says it’s helpful to have an objective tool for an evaluation. She thinks it takes the pressure off athletes.

“Because as athletes, we’re always eager to be on the field or play the game and to have that mindset to be better and get back on your feet as quickly as you can. I think this app will allow you to really settle and to really take your time with your symptoms.”

The clinical trial is looking at whether FlightPath can do as good or better as traditional methods in diagnosing a concussion.  So far, Dr. Rai says nearly 15 athletes who have suffered a concussion have completed a FlightPath assessment and it’s been performing well.

“Results are early so far but in our sample size we found some associations at least where FlightPath has shown some abnormalities similar to what other examinations have found as well, whether that’s the SCAT test or the ImPACT test.”

There are other concussion applications commercially available, but Dr. Cross suggests none are as robust as FlightPath.

“There aren't any, as far as I've seen, that use this mixed reality approach to gather the kinds of data that we're gathering. This is very rich data in a very short time in our app. One of the things that makes it so unique and sets it apart is that we get so much data about so many different manifestations of concussion in such a short time.”

Testing is expected to take at least two years. After testing, the app will be submitted to the FDA for clinical approval.

Here is a video demonstrating how the app works.

*Dr. Adam Cross also holds these positions:
Assistant Professor, University of Illinois College of Medicine Peoria, Division of Pediatric Hospital Medicine
Adjunct Professor, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Health Care Engineering Systems Center (HCESC)
Clinical Research Informatician, OSF HealthCare | Jump Trading Simulation & Education Center (JTSEC) 

Dr. Adam Cross, ISU soccer player Cyerra Hibbert and Dr. Karan Rai

B-roll of ISU soccer player Cyerra Hibbert on soccer field

B-roll of FlightPath app demonstration

As we begin a new year at OSF HealthCare, we're reflecting on some major advancements in the way we care for patients – with significant advancements in 2022 that have allowed us to meet patients where they are physically and where they are in their health care journey. Together, OSF Innovation and OSF OnCall, our digital health division, launched initiatives that leveraged digital technologies and data for more convenient access and improved patient outcomes.. 

Those efforts are highlighted here in our  Top 10 Innovation and Digital Health stories for 2022.