HACKNC

Winning team members of SymptoSecure with judge Luis Torres Torija Arguelles, far right. (Photo Credit: HackNC)

This year’s HackNC featured patient safety, courtesy of the Patient Safety Technology Challenge, with funding from the Pittsburgh Regional Health Initiative. SymptoSecure received the $400 prize as the hackathon winner for the “Best Patient Safety Hack” at this year’s HackNC, held October 27-29 at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill.

 Shashank Venga, organizer of HackNC shared, "Adding patient safety as a track was a great success. It got lots of other groups of students involved who wouldn't normally have participated."

The Patient Safety Track winner’s prototype, SymptoSecure Plus, is a medical profiling tool intended to close the essential gap between patients and healthcare providers, with a specific emphasis on tackling healthcare disparities experienced by marginalized communities. The digital pre-consultation platform will assist patients in arranging and conveying their medical history, symptoms, and relevant information in a well-structured format.

SymptoSecure team member Vineet Dasi, a master’s in computer science student at North Carolina State University shared, “SymptoSecure, was born from the inspiration to create a tool that addresses the initial gaps between patients and healthcare providers. We aimed to enhance patient-doctor communication, enable more accurate preliminary diagnoses utilizing GPT-4 , and prioritize data privacy in a way that aligns with stringent regulations like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). SymptoSecure utilizes cutting-edge machine learning algorithms to securely store and process patient data within the user's browser, ensuring privacy while providing valuable insights for more informed healthcare consultations.”

Dasi continued and shared, “We aim to collaborate with healthcare institutions to integrate our platform into their systems, thereby enhancing patient-doctor interactions and diagnostic accuracy on a larger scale. Additionally, we're committed to staying at the forefront of technological advancements in healthcare to continue developing innovative solutions that prioritize patient safety and data privacy.”

Team member Isaac Mylabathula, a computer science student at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte shared his “interest in the issues of patient safety, medical errors, and related innovations began when I attended the PRHI Presenting Patient Safety Workshop, led by Luis Torres, where he talked about the importance of patient safety in regard to medical errors.” Dr. Luis Torres Torija Arguelles, a physician with a specialty in quality of clinical care, served as the workshop presenter, mentor, and judge for the patient safety track alongside Dr. Joseph Thomas, an internal medicine physician at UNC Health.

The Patient Safety Technology Challenge is proud to sponsor tracks with workshops and prizes to raise awareness of patient safety and inspire ideas like SymptoSecure. t the correct times.”