ALGORITHMS HELP 10 HIGH-RISK PATIENTS.

• Position: EARLY INTERVENTION

Using technology to identify high-risk patients may aid in reducing unnecessary health care use and medical costs, suggests a study led by researchers at Texas A&M University, College Station.

At the heart of efforts to improve quality of care and reduce costs are interventions such as health coaching and disease management programs. Past intervention efforts have been less effective than hoped, possibly because they did not properly target the small subset of patients most likely to benefit from additional treatment. However, algorithms that holistically analyze all health records to identify individuals who may benefit from an intervention might make it possible to improve quality of care.

A study published in Health Economics investigated whether an intervention conducted by a large health insurer that was aided by such algorithms could be more effective at reducing costs and unnecessary care.

Benjamin Ukert, assistant professor at the School of Public Health, together with researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and Independence...