Using predictive analytics software tools to combat COVID-19

COVID-19 has reshaped the way humans interact with technology in healthcare. Intelligent data, technology, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) have started to lighten the burden and establish new ways to facilitate sustainable demand and supply. But at the helm of this transformation are predictive analytics software tools.

Predictive analytics in healthcare is rapidly becoming some of the most-discussed in healthcare analytics. The enormous amount of data the pandemic generated has given researchers and providers the opportunity to analyse trends, monitor patient populations, and begin to rectify long standing issues in the healthcare industry.

The ability to anticipate future events is critical in the midst of a healthcare crisis, and predictive analytics software tools can help healthcare entities do that. They are helping healthcare organisations stay ahead of poor outcomes, resource shortages, and other regressive impacts of COVID-19.

Furthermore, organisations are turning to predictive models to better understand which patients are at risk, where resources are most needed, and where the disease is likely to spike next. To further understand the true impact of predictive analytics models, let us dive straight into the potential benefits to boost our fight against the pandemic.

The ability to forecast disease severity and risk

Determining which patients are most at risk for contracting the virus – and which individuals are likely to experience poor outcomes from COVID-19 – is perhaps the most important use case for predictive analytics during the pandemic.

Researchers and data analysts have worked to uncover the factors that may influence disease susceptibility and severity, aiming to get ahead of surges in cases, hospitalisations, and deaths.

Applying machine learning approaches to data from a large cohort of patients with COVID-19 resulted in the identification of accurate prediction models for mortality. The ability to accurately predict whether or not a patient is likely to test positive for COVID-19, as well as potential outcomes including disease severity and hospitalisation, will be paramount in effectively managing our resources and triaging care.

As we continue to battle this pandemic and healthcare professionals prepare for a potential second wave, understanding a person’s risk is the first step in potential care and treatment planning.

Preparing for hospital capacity vs demand

With the rapid spread of COVID-19, many hospitals and health systems are faced with the possibility of sudden surges in patient volume, resulting in limited resources, and increased burden on staff.

To better plan for these potential surges, organisations have implemented predictive tools to help allocate resources. With predictive analytics software tools, you can match the daily demand of hospitals with their necessary resources i.e beds, staff, PPE and other supplies.

Predictive analytics software tools provide timely, reliable information to forecast patient volume, bed capacity, and ventilator availability to optimise care delivery for COVID-19 and other patients. These platforms can track local hospitalisation volumes and the rate of confirmed COVID-19 cases. Furthermore, these models can help anticipate and prepare for increasing COVID-19 patient volumes with 85 per cent to 95 per cent degree of accuracy by running multiple forecasting models.

Mapping the virus’ journey

In a situation as unpredictable as a global health crisis, having some idea of which areas will be most impacted can help public health officials and providers get ahead of poor outcomes.

Using predictive analytics software tools, researchers can find patterns and trends in different places that can inform social distancing guidelines and other preventative measures.

Currently, hospitals and governments have developed several predictive analytics models to examine COVID-19 trends and patterns around the world. Researchers believe that past data encodes all the necessary information.

Predictive models could also demonstrate the importance of other COVID-19 regulations, like wearing masks.

Predictive analytics software tools at the center of healthcare innovation

As the pandemic continues on, predictive analytics will continue to play a significant role in monitoring the impact of the virus, from patient outcomes to areas of increased disease spread. The global health crisis has only further highlighted the importance of predictive analytics in healthcare, and can accelerate the use of these tools in standard care.

These models can help hospitals, health care facilities, state health departments and government agencies forecast the impact of COVID-19 and prepare for the future.

Visit our website for more information on how predictive analytics software tools could revolutionise the global approach to the pandemic.

Navigating these difficult times and staying committed to our SLAs

We are all going through tough times. With the coronavirus pandemic spreading, all of us have been forced to take drastic measures to stay safe. As the situation continues to worsen, Selerity has taken steps to ensure the safety of its employees, while also ensuring that we maintain our SLAs with our clients in Australia and across the world. Our work processes and the infrastructure in place to support staff has allowed us to keep a ‘business as usual’ mentality, while taking into account the health and safety of our team and any individuals we come in contact with.

What are we doing to keep our team safe?

Due to the airborne nature of the virus, Selerity has taken several steps to ensure that its employees work from home, full time. While Selerity has always had a remote work option, we have taken steps to ensure that all our employees continue their work from the safety of their homes.

We have developed systems to ensure that all our employees continue with their work like it is business as usual, such as a secure, virtual environment so that our employees can perform even the most sensitive tasks remotely.

It is important to emphasise that Selerity has always had a culture of remote work. Our employees are used to working either at home or at a venue they are comfortable with (though given the situation, we expect them to stay at home!). Given our long-standing culture of remote work, we have developed the right communication systems to ensure our employees are accountable, honest and most importantly, productive, even if they are kilometres away. Our processes allow us to maintain continuity even during these hard times.

What steps are we taking to maintain SLA obligations to clients?

We understand the importance of keeping all systems up and running, especially with the ongoing crisis as well as actively monitoring our services to ensure we meet our commitments on our SLAs.

Our team has taken several steps to ensure that systems can support the service quality our clients expect. To ensure consistent, timely product delivery, we regularly test our systems to ensure our employees have the server capacity they need to perform their work. Furthermore, we are working to ensure minimal system disruption to ensure consistent product delivery remains even with unexpected surges in workload. We have also invested in security to ensure that sensitive data remains safe – some of our measures include, but are not limited to authorised access and two-step verification.

Stay safe and healthy

We wish you and your family good health and that this crisis is resolved without you and yours caught in the middle. We also wish those who are sick a speedy recovery. But most importantly, we want to thank the thousands of health workers, both here in Australia, and across the world, for their tireless work in containing this virus. I can safely say that their courage and work ethic is a major source of inspiration to everyone on the team.

On behalf of the Selerity team, stay safe and healthy.