Improving outcomes across the patient journey
A Anand Shah, MD, MA | Executive vice president | Pieces Technologies, Inc.
Pieces Solutions
s an
Pieces Technologies:
emergency physician,
helping patients during
some of their most
vulnerable moments can
be an ongoing struggle.
Complex social needs
impact patients’ health
as much, or even more,
than clinical care. That
realization inspired me to
join the Parkland Center
for Clinical Innovation
(PCCI), and now Pieces
Technologies, Inc. (Pieces
Tech), where I am the chief product
officer. Pieces Tech is a healthcare
technology firm that builds software
to interpret patient information
in real-time, transforming billions
of data points into warning tools
that can save lives and strengthen
communities inside and outside
hospital walls.
Our journey started in 2007
at Parkland Health & Hospital
System when our founder, Ruben
Amarasingham, MD, began
developing predictive models to
prevent readmissions. His work
resulted in the creation of the
nonprofit research institute, PCCI,
which has received more than $50
million in scientific funding. Pieces
Technologies grew out of PCCI as
a nimble hub of innovation and
problem-solving for organizations
around the globe.
By 2020, the total amount of
medical knowledge is expected to
double every 73 days. It is unrealistic
to assume that the full burden of
medical knowledge will continue to
reside with physicians themselves. It
is critical for our healthcare systems
to leverage advanced technology now
to help augment our clinical teams.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is one
of those advanced technologies. AI
systems can digest physiological
data, images, clinician notes,
historical data, and social factors in
order to identify high-risk patients
and suggest treatment strategies. It
is critical to use all the data at our
disposal to determine a diagnosis
or make predictions. Because the
average US physician sees about
2,000 patients a year, simplifying
these decision points is essential.
Pieces Tech develops innovative
solutions that augment clinical
decision-making and appropriate
care pathways. Our system enables
health systems and social service
organizations to discover, predict
and share information in order to
24 Dallas Medical Journal November 2018
improve clinical and operational
outcomes. Using cloud-based
artificial intelligence with clinically
based natural language processing
(NLP) and physician-supervised
machine learning, Pieces Tech helps
streamline clinician workflows
and improve patient outcomes at a
magnitude that is otherwise humanly
impossible.
PIECES SOLUTIONS
Combined, our solutions — Pieces
Decision Sciences (DS) and Pieces
Iris — create a comprehensive
and unique solution for connected
community health. (See the figure
above.)
Pieces DS is a cloud-based clinical
decision support tool that enables
healthcare organizations to reduce
lengths of stay, prevent readmissions,
lower medication risks, and avoid
unnecessary hospitalizations.
Pieces Iris is a scalable, cloudbased
case management platform