Inspiration

We didn’t start with technology; we started with a simple thought: What happens when a patient walks into a hospital and no one has the full picture? In many real-world situations, nurses and staff are juggling multiple systems, notes, and priorities at once. The information exists, but it’s scattered. And when things are hectic, even small delays or confusion can matter more than they should. We wanted to build something that reduces that friction; something that brings clarity in moments where clarity is critical.

What it does

TriageOS is a simple dashboard that brings patient intake, triage guidance, and doctor availability into one place. Instead of switching between systems, staff can:

Add and view patient details
See a live queue of patients
Get structured triage guidance
Check which doctors are available The goal is not to replace existing systems, but to make decision-making faster and clearer in real time.

How we built it

We built TriageOS with a Next.js frontend and a Spring Boot backend. The frontend focuses on clarity and ease of use, while the backend handles patient data, authentication, and triage logic. For triage, we combined structured logic with AI-assisted output to generate helpful guidance without overcomplicating the flow. We also added a demo dataset so the system can be tested instantly.

Challenges we ran into

One of the biggest challenges was balancing complexity with usability. Healthcare workflows can get complicated quickly, but we didn’t want to build something that felt heavy or slow. We had to keep asking ourselves: “Is this actually helping, or just adding more layers?” Another challenge was making the system feel real-time and responsive, especially when managing multiple patients and doctor availability.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We’re proud that we built something that feels usable, not just functional. The dashboard is clean, fast, and easy to understand at a glance. You can log in, add patients, run triage, and see everything update immediately. We also focused on making the experience smooth enough that someone could pick it up without instructions.

What we learned

We learned that building for real-world problems is very different from building for assignments. It’s not just about features; it’s about clarity, speed, and reducing friction. We also learned how important it is to think from the user’s perspective, especially in high-pressure environments where every second matters.

What's next for TriageOS

We will move beyond demo data and in-memory storage and connect the system to real databases and workflows. We will continue improving the triage system with more robust logic and better support for real-world scenarios, along with stronger communication between staff. Our goal is to turn TriageOS into something that can support real hospital operations ; not by replacing existing systems, but by making them easier to use together.