Machine learning helps predict admissions, readmissions

A group of hospitals in Paris is exploring the use of data analytics and machine learning to predict patient admissions down to the hour. Four hospitals within the city's public hospital system are trialing a new data-driven approach that combs through 10 years of admissions data and deploys refined algorithms to predict admissions rates during certain times of the day, according to Forbes' contributed post. The project is expected to be rolled out to all 44 public hospitals in Paris, which meant data scientists had to create a scalable, open-sourced framework from scratch, while also considering the need for cloud-based storage to house additional data in the future. Although privacy laws in France presented some barriers, the model has helped hospitals adjust staffing levels during periods of heavy admissions. Clinical and administrative staff members use a simple, web-based to review predicted admission rates 15 days out.