Using deep learning to predict emergency room visits

At IBM Research, we are exploring new solutions for a range of health care challenges. One such challenge is emergency room (ER) overcrowding, which can lead to long wait times for treatment. Overcrowding results in part from people visiting the ER for non-emergency conditions rather than relying on primary physicians. Patients who use the ER for non-emergency situations are more likely to return to the ER multiple times (Poole et al. 2016), further contributing to overcrowding. Identifying those patients who are likely to return to the ER may enable hospitals to intervene to ensure access to necessary care outside the ER and potentially alleviate overcrowding.