Description:
Background:
Emergency department crowding is an issue that widely affects healthcare, resulting in impaired patient outcomes, decreased access to healthcare, and diminished profitability. There is a need for predictive modeling solutions that can help alleviate emergency department crowding.
Technology:
Dr. Nathan Hoot at UTHealth has developed a forecasting tool for measuring and predicting patient flow through emergency departments, called ForecastED. ForecastED is a simulation-based software tool to forecast near-future emergency department staffing needs. It integrates with existing IT environment to provide real-time crowding forecasts. ForecastED has been validated in both retrospective and prospective studies performed at several hospitals nationwide.
Licensing status:
This technology is available for licensing
Relevant publications:
Ann Emerg Med. 2009 Oct;54(4):514-522.e19. doi: 10.1016/j.annemergmed.2009.06.006. Epub 2009 Aug 29.
J Am Med Inform Assoc. 2009 May-Jun;16(3):338-45. doi: 10.1197/jamia.M2772. Epub 2009 Mar 4.
Ann Emerg Med. 2008 Aug;52(2):126-36. doi: 10.1016/j.annemergmed.2008.03.014. Epub 2008 Apr 23.