In Chapter 1, Introduction to Healthcare Analytics, we discussed the three subcomponents of analytics: descriptive analytics, predictive analytics, and prescriptive analytics. Predictive and prescriptive analytics form the heart of healthcare's mission to improve care, cost, and outcomes. That is because if we can predict that an adverse event is likely in the future, we can divert our scarce resources toward preventing the adverse event from occurring.
What are some of the adverse events we can predict (and then prevent) in healthcare?
- Deaths: Obviously, any death that is preventable or foreseeable should be avoided. Once a death is predicted to occur, preventative actions may include directing more nurses toward that patient, hiring more consultants for the case, or speaking to the family about options earlier rather than...