society of critical care medicine’s discovery datathon

The winning patient safety team with judge Dr. Benjamin Ranard.

The winning team answering the question “What Are the Key Factors Influencing Glucose Variability in Point-of-Care and Serum Measurements?” took home first place under the patient safety category at this year’s Society of Critical Care Medicine’s (SSCM) Discovery Datathon held August 5-6, 2023 in New York City.

The award, provided by the Pittsburgh Regional Health Initiative as part of the Patient Safety Technology Challenge, will fund one person from the winning team to travel to SCCM’s Critical Care Congress in Arizona in January 2024 to present the team's project and receive an award recognizing their contributions.

Benjamin Ranard, MD, MSHP, an intensivist at Columbia University Irving Medical Center and associate director for the Center for Patient Safety and Learning Health System Research, facilitated the patient safety session to educate the participants of the datathon about patient safety.

“I was impressed by the multidisciplinary diversity in the teams that formed,” said Dr. Ranard, who also served as one of the eight judges. Seventy clinicians and data scientists - from high school through graduate school, and beyond - came together for this event which provided a great opportunity to educate participants about patient safety.

“My interest in patient safety, medical errors, and related innovations was sparked during my recent participation in the event. This experience exposed me to the significant impact that medical errors can have on patients' lives and the importance of addressing these issues to improve overall healthcare quality. I was fascinated by the potential of data-driven approaches and innovative technologies to identify, analyze, and mitigate the risks associated with medical errors and enhance patient safety,” said Vishwasrao Salunkhe, one of the members of the winning team. He shared that a loved one had been affected by a patient safety lapse and that experience continues to fuel his passion for the issue.

Another team member, Andrew Barros, MD, who specializes in pulmonary and critical care medicine at the University of Virginia Medical Center, said he had been interested in patient safety for his entire career, including during his time training as an intensivist.

SCCM Program Manager of Research and Quality Tamara Al-Hakim said adding a patient safety focus to the datathon “raised awareness of the issue especially after the session on patient safety which helped the participants better understand all the components.”

The next step for the winning team is presenting their findings at the 2024 Critical Care Congress in Phoenix, Arizona, and publishing a research paper detailing their analysis. Salunkhe said the team’s goal is to submit a paper on their findings to a reputable peer-reviewed journal, where it can reach a wider audience and contribute to the growing body of knowledge on patient safety and glucose monitoring. “By publishing our research, we hope to inspire other researchers and healthcare professionals to explore similar data-driven approaches and innovative technologies to address the challenges associated with medical errors and enhance patient safety,” said Salunkhe.