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A self-developed AI assistant from Maastricht wins a US AI4PI award from the International Society for Performance Improvement and seems to be rapidly gaining ground in Limburg healthcare. Limburg-based Tulser received the award for an application that is not stuck in pilots, but actually used on the shop floor by nurses and carers.
Fast advance in healthcare
The personal AI assistant, called Inora, is now being used at 11 healthcare organisations in Limburg. The development started three years ago and was first used at CAZZ Zorg, an organisation with several hundred employees. There, it soon became clear that the assistant not only worked on paper, but also held up in practice. That rollout throughout Limburg s remarkable. Many AI applications get stuck in experiments or loose pilots, but Inora became a daily part of the work. That earned Tulser the US AI4PI award, a prize for applications that make organisations perform demonstrably better. Exactly how big that improvement is varies by organisation and is not yet measured structurally everywhere. Based on forecasts, Tulser expects a time gain of about 5 per cent on total operations. For a healthcare organisation with 500 employees, that amounts to over 33,000 hours per year, comparable to about 25 fte of extra capacity.
No standard AI
According to Vivian Heijnen, partner at Tulser, the difference with other applications lies in the way the AI is built. "With ChatGPT you can also create your own agents, but the underlying database is generic. Then you don't always know if information is correct. Moreover, the system often talks along with the user and regularly fabulates. That is of no use to you as a professional." According to Tulser, Inora operates in a protected environment and is fed by a verified healthcare knowledge base. The emphasis is on reliability and consistency, essential in a sector where mistakes can have immediate consequences.
Watch on the shop floor
In practice, Inora joins the work of healthcare workers, so to speak. Not as a separate app, but as a colleague integrated into the work processes. During reports, transfers or assessing a situation, the assistant provides suggestions, background information and helps with reasoning and action.
This saves time and avoids extra consultations. Anyone who needs to call a doctor is better prepared and has to report back less often. In cases of misunderstood behaviour in dementia, for example, the assistant helps to identify possible causes and the right approach more quickly. "I have been working in care for 20 years, but Inora gives me ideas I never thought of before," says a nurse. "It helps me have better conversations with doctors, clients or relatives and feel more secure in my work, even if there is no colleague nearby to ask a question."
Not without risk
At the same time, caution remains necessary. In healthcare, good-sounding advice can still be wrong and the final responsibility remains with the professional. The question is not only whether technology works, but also how dependent care workers become on it. It is notable that Tulser is not a technology company, but a consultancy firm that originated from MUMC+ and has been active in healthcare for years. In doing so, the company itself made a switch from training agency to consultant that helps organisations work and learn differently. In practice, traditional training courses often prove insufficiently in tune with the daily dynamics on the shop floor. This is precisely what Tulser is now trying to respond to with technology, among other things. "We know the work processes and know what people are up against," says Heijnen. The award underlines a broader development: the focus is not on the technology itself, but on whether it can actually be embedded in work processes. And it is precisely in that area that this digital colleague from Limburg is already conquering its place in practice.
Source: Enterprise in Limburg