AIIMS Nagpur holds two-day national conference on patient safety in AI era

As hospitals increasingly use technology and artificial intelligence (AI), vigilance around patient safety has become more important than ever, since even a small error during treatment can seriously harm a patient. With this in mind, AIIMS Nagpur organised a two-day National Patient Safety Conference-2026.

Doctors, nursing experts, hospital administrators and researchers from different parts of the country attended the conference, along with directors of six AIIMS institutes. They discussed how hospitals can provide patients with safe and good quality care, and shared experiences of good practices being followed at their respective institutions.

The conference was inaugurated by Rajya Sabha MP and president of the Indian Medical Parliamentarians Forum, Dr Anil Sukhdeorao Bonde. Former MP Ajay Sancheti was present as a special guest, and Dr Sujata Chaudhary, additional director general of the Directorate General of Health Services, was also present.

Dr Prashant Joshi, executive director of AIIMS Nagpur, said patient safety is the biggest foundation of any good healthcare service today. He said that as medical technology advances, it is equally important to make treatment methods safer and more effective.

In various sessions of the conference, experts spoke on topics including newborn and child care, emergency services, leadership in patient safety, technology and AI, and research and innovation. There were also extensive discussions on safety during surgery and medication safety. Experts shared their experience on identifying and reducing risks that can arise at every stage of treatment.

There was also discussion on preventing infections in hospitals. It was said that incidents related to patient safety must be reported, so that lessons can be learned from them to prevent such mistakes from happening again. Experts said that patient safety is not the responsibility of doctors or nursing staff alone, but a shared responsibility of the entire health system.

The conference also emphasised increasing the involvement of patients and their families during treatment. There was discussion on how to give patients and their relatives complete information about their treatment, understand their concerns, and involve them in treatment-related decisions.

Experts felt that technology and AI can improve treatment, but patient safety, transparency and a human perspective must always remain a priority. The conference held in Nagpur gave health experts from across the country a common platform to discuss these issues.