HospiGo

Inspiration

While skiing the slopes of Mont Rigaud, Valentin broke his leg and headed straight to the nearest hospital. He looks at the hospital monitor: six and a half hour wait to see a doctor. While waiting, he noticed an inefficient, flawed system and thought, “There must be a better way to get my leg fixed.” Valentin, now mostly recovered, walks with a limp. As we joked about his situation at the beginning of the hackathon, the idea emerged: why not create a system to improve hospital visits?

What it does

Our mobile app enhances the emergency room experience by providing real-time hospital and ER information across Quebec. The Home tab displays data for nearby hospitals: estimated waiting times, stretcher availability, hospital capacity, and more, so patients know what to expect at each location. Another tab features an AI-powered personal assistant that conducts a triage by asking relevant questions, offering follow-up queries, and delivering personalized recommendations on nearby hospitals. Additionally, the Emergency Resources tab offers a one click solution to access essential call lines for dire situations, such as the Quebec Poison Control Centre, emergency shelters, and more.

How we built it

We developed a mobile app using React Native with the Expo framework, with compatibility on both Android and iOS. On the backend, a Python web scraper using Selenium collected hospital data from provincial government pages. We also integrated APIs from the Government of Quebec (available at donneesquebec.ca) for real-time hospital data.

Challenges we ran into

Determining the user's current location and calculating the appropriate hospital recommendation based on travel time and estimated wait time.
Obtaining accurate and up-to-date hospital waiting time information.
Implementing an effective and functional search bar.
Integrating multiple API datasets that lack unique identifiers.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Addressing the problematic healthcare challenges we all deal with in Quebec.
Building a functional mobile app with limited app development experience.
Developing a personalized AI assistant.
Designing a user-friendly and visually appealing UI.

What we learned

Experience with React, React Native, APIs, and overall app development.
Insights into Quebec's hospital system and the accessibility of government data.
Effective use of mobile device emulators.

What's next for HospiGo

Enhancing the UI and providing more features for a better user experience.
Collaborating with hospitals to provide real-time data and more suitable recommendations.
Expanding the data sources to offer even more pertinent information.