Patient Outcome Predictions Improve Operations at a Large Hospital Network

Abstract

Problem definition: Access to accurate predictions of patients' outcomes can enhance medical staff's decision-making, which ultimately benefits all stakeholders in the hospitals. A large hospital network in the US has been collaborating with academics and consultants to predict short-term and long-term outcomes for all inpatients across their seven hospitals. Methodology/results: We develop machine learning models that predict the probabilities of next 24-hr/48-hr discharge and intensive care unit transfers, end-of-stay mortality and discharge dispositions. All models achieve high out-of-sample AUC (75.7%-92.5%) and are well calibrated. In addition, combining 48-hr discharge predictions with doctors' predictions simultaneously enables more patient discharges (10%-28.7%) and fewer 7-day/30-day readmissions ($p$-value $<0.001$). We implement an automated pipeline that extracts data and updates predictions every morning, as well as user-friendly software and a color-coded alert system to communicate these patient-level predictions (alongside explanations) to clinical teams. Managerial implications: Since we have been gradually deploying the tool, and training medical staff, over 200 doctors, nurses, and case managers across seven hospitals use it in their daily patient review process. We observe a significant reduction in the average length of stay (0.67 days per patient) following its adoption and anticipate substantial financial benefits (between \$55 and \$72 million annually) for the healthcare system.