A medical procedure-based patient grouping method for an emergency department

M. Xu, T.C. Wong, K.S. Chin

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article

12 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Variability and unpredictability are typical characteristics of complex systems such as emergency department (ED) where the patient demand is high and patient conditions are diverse. To tackle the uncertain nature of ED and improve the resource management, it is beneficial to group patients with common features. This paper aims to use self-organizing map (SOM), k-means, and hierarchical methods to group patients based on their medical procedures and make comparisons among these methods. It can be reasonably assumed that the medical procedures received by the patients are directly associated with ED resource consumption. Different grouping techniques are compared using a validity index and the resulting groups are distinctive in the length of treatment (LOT) of patients and their presenting complaints. This paper also discusses how the resulting patient groups can be used to enhance the ED resource planning, as well as to redesign the ED charging policy.
LanguageEnglish
Pages31-37
Number of pages7
JournalApplied Soft Computing
Volume14
Issue numberPART A
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2014

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Self organizing maps
Large scale systems
Planning

Keywords

  • medical procedure
  • patient grouping
  • emergency department

Cite this

Xu, M. ; Wong, T.C. ; Chin, K.S. / A medical procedure-based patient grouping method for an emergency department. In: Applied Soft Computing. 2014 ; Vol. 14, No. PART A. pp. 31-37.
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Xu, M, Wong, TC & Chin, KS 2014, 'A medical procedure-based patient grouping method for an emergency department' Applied Soft Computing, vol. 14, no. PART A, pp. 31-37. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asoc.2013.09.022

A medical procedure-based patient grouping method for an emergency department. / Xu, M.; Wong, T.C.; Chin, K.S.

In: Applied Soft Computing, Vol. 14, No. PART A, 01.01.2014, p. 31-37.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article

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Xu M, Wong TC, Chin KS. A medical procedure-based patient grouping method for an emergency department. Applied Soft Computing. 2014 Jan 1;14(PART A):31-37. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asoc.2013.09.022

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