Using multiclass classification to automate the identification of patient safety incident reports by type and severity.

Journal: BMC medical informatics and decision making
Published Date:

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Approximately 10% of admissions to acute-care hospitals are associated with an adverse event. Analysis of incident reports helps to understand how and why incidents occur and can inform policy and practice for safer care. Unfortunately our capacity to monitor and respond to incident reports in a timely manner is limited by the sheer volumes of data collected. In this study, we aim to evaluate the feasibility of using multiclass classification to automate the identification of patient safety incidents in hospitals.

Authors

  • Ying Wang
    Key Laboratory of Macromolecular Science of Shaanxi Province, School of Chemistry & Chemical Engineering, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710062, China.
  • Enrico Coiera
    1Australian Institute of Health Innovation, Macquarie University, Level 6 75 Talavera Rd, Sydney, NSW 2109 Australia.
  • William Runciman
    Centre for Population Health Research, School of Health Sciences, University of South Australia, Australia.
  • Farah Magrabi
    Centre for Health Informatics, Australian Institute of Health Innovation, Macquarie University, Australia.