Mass General Brigham builds AI tool to warn patients about the dangers of extreme heat

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The largest health system in Massachusetts is building a tool that will use artificial intelligence to prevent heat-related health problems.

Mass General Brigham is partnering with IBM on the project, which feels particularly relevant this week as the Boston area and many other parts of the country swelter in a haze of humidity and high heat. A heat advisory in effect through Wednesday for thousands of New England residents warns it could feel as hot as 95-103 degrees.

My colleague Martha Bebinger reports the tool will do three things:

The basic idea is to intervene before extreme heat takes a severe toll on people’s health, “so that they won’t, hopefully, have to go to the emergency department, won’t be hospitalized for heat illness or for an exacerbation of their chronic illness that heat can often make worse,” said Dr. Paul Biddinger, Mass General Brigham’s chief preparedness and continuity officer who is leading the collaboration with IBM.

Other health systems in Massachusetts have tested heat alerts to help patients with diabetes, heart, lung or kidney diseases, or who work outdoors, avoid health problems during hot weather. But it's hard to filter patient records to determine who is most at risk. That's where Biddinger's team hopes AI can help.

For the tool to be most effective, nurses and doctors may ask more questions about whether a patient can stay cool at work and at home, so they know how to assess the person's risks. The tool will be updated as researchers learn more about adjusting medications when it's hot, and how some conditions, including our mental health, may be harder to manage in the warmest months.

Extreme heat is increasing across the country due to human-caused climate change. Heat waves are occurring about three times more often than they did in the 1960s—about six per year compared to two per year, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Association for the Advancement of Science. At the same time, the Trump administration is moving aggressively to undercut the government's ability to address climate change; the EPA announced Tuesday that it will revoke its own the authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.

Heat is already the leading weather-related cause of death in the U.S, causing more deaths than hurricanes and floods combined.

In announcing the AI project, Mass General Brigham noted that extreme heat has “contributed to a rise in hospitalizations for respiratory, cardiovascular, and kidney diseases,” and cited a report from the Center for American Progress, a progressive think tank, that found hospitalizations, emergency room visits — and their costs — are expected to rise further with more prolonged periods of extreme heat.

It's also worth noting that the impacts of extreme heat are often felt more strongly in cities and among certain residents — like those with limited access to cooling trees and air conditioned homes and workplaces.

The AI tool aims to leverage technology — while in theory protecting patient privacy — to address some of the mounting health challenges emerging with more extreme heat. Mass General Brigham's goal is to test the tool next summer and through IBM, make it widely available to other hospitals and community health centers.

Biddinger said there are still lots of questions, like how to send alerts to people who don't use a computer or smart phone regularly, which languages to use, and how to avoid "alert fatigue."

"This is a big deal for us because New England is warming faster than many parts of the U.S.," Biddinger said. "If we over-communicate, we run the risk of losing people."