From today, all residents have access to the digital triage tool (a system for dividing and prioritizing) "Help Questionnaire" of the National Center for Mental Health (NCZP), designed to organize appointments with a psychiatrist based on the severity of the condition and risk, which will allow patients with acute conditions to receive psychiatric help more quickly, NCZP reported to LETA.
As explained by the center, the situation has arisen where both individuals with acute conditions, including severe depression or psychotic episodes, and patients with milder psycho-emotional complaints were waiting in the same queue. As a result, patients with acute conditions often had to wait for help just as long as those whose disorders may have only slightly affected their daily functioning.
The "Help Questionnaire" has been created so that the most vulnerable patients can receive treatment on a priority basis, the center explained.
The questionnaire is intended for a wide audience. Any medical institution in Latvia can issue this questionnaire for a patient to fill out, after which the psychiatric care institution will contact the resident. The questionnaire is also available on the websites of five psychiatric hospitals — NCZP, Strenči Psychiatric Hospital, Gintermuiža Hospital, Daugavpils Psychiatric Hospital, and Primorska Hospital. It can be filled out at a convenient time and place, according to NCZP.
The digital tool is designed for both those who are seeing a psychiatrist for the first time and for patients who have already received psychiatric help but are currently experiencing a worsening of symptoms and wish to receive a more timely assessment. It will also be useful in situations where the patient or their relatives are unsure about the urgency of the condition, specialists explain.
Filling out the questionnaire helps the doctor quickly understand the seriousness of the situation and choose the most appropriate way to provide assistance. The goal of the tool is to ensure that help is provided based on medical necessity and risk assessment, while maintaining the crucial role of the doctor in the decision-making process, NCZP emphasizes.
The center notes that the questions in the questionnaire are adapted based on the patient's answers, and usually filling it out takes up to 15 minutes. The tool collects clinically significant information about well-being, symptoms, risk factors, and the patient's social situation, helping to determine the level of priority for scheduling.
When assessing the questionnaire, not only medical symptoms are taken into account but also the psychological state and social circumstances of the individual. The tool has been developed based on data from Latvian patients and adapted to the psychiatric care system in Latvia.
"This approach allows for more efficient organization of the patient queue and reduces the risk that acute patients will wait for help longer than is desirable for achieving a good treatment outcome," the center explains.
At the same time, the solution will also help reduce the overload on medical staff and improve the quality of services without attracting additional human resources.
NCZP emphasizes that the questionnaire does not replace the doctor and is not an automated decision-making system — the triage results are reviewed by a medical professional who makes the final decision about the timing and form of assistance.
The patient is provided with feedback — they are informed about scheduling or recommended, for example, to contact a family doctor.
The head of the center, Sandra Pūce, explains that in the field of mental health, there are situations where one person can wait a month, while another urgently needs help today.
"Until now, the system did not take this difference into account, and everyone waited in one long queue. The 'Help Questionnaire' is a smart digital assistant that changes this order," Pūce notes.
In turn, the head of the NCZP Scientific Institute, Liene Sile, emphasizes that the questionnaire is unique in that it provides direct feedback from medical professionals and forms an organized, state approach to the scheduling system.
Health Minister Hosam Abu Meri emphasizes that the questionnaire is a simple and understandable digital tool for patients that can improve the management of patient flows while simultaneously providing recommendations on where to turn in emergency situations.
The digital solution was developed by NCZP in collaboration with the Latvian enterprise specializing in AI-based solutions, "Apply."
One of the most challenging tasks was transferring clinical knowledge to the algorithm, which was achieved through close daily collaboration with doctors. Data protection is one of the main principles of the system: all data is processed in accordance with regulatory requirements and with adherence to the principle of data minimization, NCZP explains. The head of the production department at "Apply," Lina Bringe, notes that creating the solution was not an easy task, as each patient's situation is individual and not always unambiguously interpretable.
Particular attention was paid to the methodology of data description and the accurate input of information for each case, which became the basis for the correct assessment of the questionnaires.
Throughout the project, regular collaboration occurred with the NCZP team, which included nine industry specialists, to ensure the quality and reliability of the solution, Bringe notes.
The pilot project is being implemented as part of the "Health" component of the EU Recovery Plan "Laboratory for Developing Models of Medical Services."
It runs from January 2024 to March 2026. The total budget for the project is €933,971.
In 2024, "Apply" had a turnover of €2.579 million and a profit of €387,331, according to data from "Firmas.lv."
The company was registered in 2012, with a share capital of €3,786. The owners of the enterprise are Agnis Jakubovich (37.51%), AJ Power Holding LLC (24.99%), Valts Jakubovich (18.75%), and Karlis Gudonis (18.75%). The company develops specialized solutions based on artificial intelligence and computer vision.
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