AI-Powered Predictions for Transferring Patients to Virtual Care
Leveraging AI to automate the screening process of patients eligible for virtual care.
Project Overview
Updated August 5, 2025
The Problem
Global healthcare systems are under strain and experiencing significant challenges, including an acute care bed shortage and a human resources crisis, primarily due to a fatigued and overstretched workforce. These issues contribute to poor patient outcomes and experiences as well as poor staff experiences, further exacerbating the crisis.
Solutions like virtual hospital wards offer numerous benefits and advantages including greater cost-effectiveness, an improved patient experience, and favourable working conditions for nursing staff. They also serve to free up physical hospital beds for those who need them the most. However, a key challenge limiting the impact of virtual programs is the identification and onboarding of suitable patients. Current screening processes are manual, time-consuming and resource-intensive; leading to limited uptake and adoption by frontline clinicians, and significantly limiting the potential impact that virtual wards can have on a hospital’s overall capacity with most programs being utilized at <10% capacity than is believed to be possible with today’s technology.
How We Are Solving It
Led by Signal 1, in collaboration with the Integrated Health and Social Services University Network for West-Central Montreal, including the Jewish General Hospital and OROT, the Network’s Connected Health Innovation Hub; this project will focus on the development and deployment of an AI-powered prediction system that automatically generates a prioritized, pre-screened list of patients eligible for virtual care.
The prediction system’s model will consider clinical, social and functional criteria to identify appropriate candidates for virtual care in real time – helping clinical teams move faster, reduce manual review, and onboard more patients to ongoing care with confidence.
The resulting solution will:
- Automate patient identification and screening
- Reduce clinician burden and streamline workflows
- Expand utilization of virtual ward capacity
- Free up in-hospital beds for the most critical cases
The tool will be deployed directly into CIUSSS West-Central Montreal’s virtual care programs, integrated with Jewish General Hospital’s systems.
Ultimately, this initiative aims to redefine virtual care delivery in Canada by enabling faster, smarter, and more consistent patient onboarding.
