Irish innovators eAltra set to revolutionise chemotherapy care with AI-powered remote assessments, offering critical time and cost savings

Irish innovators eAltra set to revolutionise chemotherapy care with AI-powered remote assessments, offering critical time and cost savings

New clinical research demonstrates that Irish company eAltra is redefining pre-chemotherapy assessments using cutting-edge conversational AI technology, proven through a pilot study with Health Innovation Hub Ireland. Originally developed as a research initiative in TCD’s ADAPT Centre and now an Enterprise Ireland HPSU-funded company, the pioneering eAltra results were achieved through a collaborative innovation study led by Health Innovation Hub Ireland (HIHI) with Tallaght University Hospital (TUH). eAltra’s AI platform allows patients to complete chemotherapy toxicity assessments remotely, streamlining patient care and saving vital healthcare resources. The results of a six month HIHI study with TUH haematology department revealed:

• For patients: eAltra’s pre-appointment remote assessment, completed in under six minutes, reduces unnecessary travel and optimises appointment scheduling – timed chemo production ensures treatment is ready when a patient arrives, eliminating wait times by up to two hours. Patients overwhelmingly agreed that the tool was easy to use and clearly explained the process, improving engagement and experience.
• For care teams: Implementation of eAltra generates a minimum productivity gain of 3.5 hours per treatment day, saving 20 minutes per patient. Critically, 98% agreement was achieved between the chatbot and current gold-standard nurse-led assessments, ensuring quality care delivery.
• For budget holders: In a typical hospital setting treating 200 patients annually, efficiency gains per nurse amount to €27,300 annually, doubling to €55,000 with two clinical nurse specialists  – a major cost saving for departments managing systemic anti-cancer therapy. Additionally, the potential for cost savings on paper printing annually is substantial.
• Interoperability: Designed for seamless integration, eAltra adheres to HL7 protocols and is fully interoperable with national health IT systems including the National Cancer Information System, Cerner/Oracle Health, and EPIC platforms.
• Sustainability: By offering remote care, eAltra reduces patient travel and supports a lower carbon footprint for healthcare services. With 5% of all travel globally attributed to healthcare, digital platforms can reduce this through remote engagement, reducing emissions. The transition to digital documentation also reduces paper use and waste, delivering clear environmental benefits.

Cancer remains a critical public health challenge in Ireland, with 42,000 new diagnoses each year. Pre-treatment assessments are standard, but the traditional in-person model often leads to unnecessary patient travel, costs and rescheduling. eAltra offers a conversational AI solution that enhances patient communication, reduces administrative burden, supports remote care delivery and enables data-driven quality improvement. eAltra represents a major step forward in delivering patient-centred, efficient, and sustainable oncology care.

Denis Roche, founder and CEO eAltra:

“eAltra is a spin out company of Trinity College Dublin and was awarded High Potential Startup status by Enterprise Ireland. Health Innovation Hub Ireland has been supporting our development throughout these milestones. The clinical access, study design support and pilot management they have provided has contributed to our product development and market positioning.  We are hugely ambitious for eAltra both at home and abroad and the HIHI pilot result provide significant evidence of efficacy, useability, impact and patient satisfaction.”

Eimear Galvin, HIHI Dublin Manager said:

“We know that AI is reshaping healthcare. These study results show that eAltra improves patient care, provides cost savings and increases productivity by streamlining processes and minimising delays in systemic anti-cancer therapy, in this case chemotherapy. By enabling remote assessments just 24 hours pre-appointment, unnecessary travel and associated costs are eliminated, ensuring timely rescheduling when required. Timed chemotherapy production aligns drug preparation with patient arrival, reducing wait times by up to two hours and optimising pharmacy workflows.”

Dr. Sadhbh O Neill, Head of Research TUH said:

“TUH are thrilled to have been involved in this patient centred research project with HIHI. As a healthcare organisation we strive to conduct research that will translate into real world positive outcomes for our patients and staff.”

Health Innovation Hub Ireland (HIHI) recently launched a competitive HIHI.AI call, to develop and testing of AI solutions with the potential to transform Ireland’s healthcare system. The call invites companies, startups, researchers and clinicians developing AI-powered healthcare tools to take part in a national competition, with selected innovations piloted in real-world clinical settings and supported through HIHI’s national network. The call is open until August 28. Full detail on hih.ie.