AI to help ICU pharmacists prevent medication harms
Artificial intelligence-based health IT tools to optimize critical care pharmacist resources through adverse drug event prediction
Using AI to predict which critically ill patients may have medication-related harms so pharmacists can intervene sooner.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Georgia NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Athens, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11187104 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
If you are in the ICU and on multiple medicines, this project aims to spot patterns in hospital records that signal preventable medication problems. Researchers will combine a new Medication Regimen Complexity-ICU (MRC-ICU) score with AI and causal-inference methods to find which medication interventions would most likely prevent adverse drug events. They will build an AI-informed dashboard to direct critical care pharmacists to patients who need medication review first. The effort is meant to help pharmacists focus their time to reduce medication harms and improve recovery.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal candidates are adults receiving intensive care and multiple medications at participating hospital ICUs where critical care pharmacists are available.
Not a fit: Patients treated outside participating ICUs, those on very few medications, or with medication issues not captured in the hospital record may not see direct benefit.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this could lower medication-related harms in the ICU and improve patient outcomes by helping pharmacists intervene earlier.
How similar studies have performed: AI has been used for medication safety in other settings, but applying AI plus causal-inference methods specifically to predict pharmacist-preventable adverse events in the ICU is largely new.
Where this research is happening
Athens, United States
- University of Georgia — Athens, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Sikora, Andrea — University of Georgia
- Study coordinator: Sikora, Andrea
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.