World's First Machine Learning Model Combats Wrong-Site Surgery

By HospiMedica International staff writers
Posted on 24 Feb 2025

Image: The machine learning approach identifies wrong-site surgeries (Photo courtesy of 123RF/Rawpixel)

Wrong-site surgery (WSS), classified as a critical "Never Event," represents a significant failure in healthcare that should never occur. However, due to widespread underreporting, the true frequency of such incidents remains unclear, putting patient safety and healthcare management at risk. The World Health Organization’s (WHO) 2024 Patient Safety Report reveals that only 38% of countries have implemented systems for reporting never events. In the U.S., the Joint Commission recorded 112 surgical errors in 2023, with wrong-site surgeries accounting for 62% of these cases. The lack of comprehensive reporting limits the healthcare system’s ability to assess the scope of the problem and take appropriate preventive actions. Inconsistent documentation is a key factor contributing to WSS. To address this challenge, a new machine learning model provides both real-time decision support and retrospective analysis, aiming to improve surgical safety and quality of care.

AESOP Technology (San Francisco, CA, USA) has developed a groundbreaking solution: the Association Outlier Pattern (AOP) machine learning model utilizing data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Limited Data Set (2017–2020) to investigate discrepancies in surgical laterality. Based on this analysis, the AOP model was developed to specifically address the issue of WSS. Unlike traditional rule-based systems, which only check for consistency, the AOP model delves into complex patterns between diagnoses and surgical procedures. It is particularly adept at handling incomplete or unclear diagnostic information, achieving an accuracy rate exceeding 80% in identifying surgical errors, surpassing the performance of existing methods.

The AOP model enables healthcare organizations to identify inconsistencies in medical records, detect unreported surgical errors, and enhance reporting systems. This not only promotes patient safety but also strengthens systems for error prevention. In addition to retrospective analysis, the AOP model provides real-time decision support during surgical planning. It automatically flags incorrect associations between surgical codes and diagnoses, ensuring accurate and complete records. This real-time functionality reduces the risk of errors, positioning the AOP model as an indispensable tool for future electronic health record (EHR) systems.

"We are thrilled with the preliminary outcomes of our research and look forward to integrating these insights into DxPrime's patient safety features this year," said Jim Long, CEO of AESOP Technology. "Our advancements in automating surgery coding show great potential for helping physicians deliver safer care, reduce documentation time, and enable medical coders to perform better concurrent surgery coding and review when patients are still hospitalized."

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AESOP Technology