The INFORMS Analytics+ Conference showcased how companies are turning advanced analytics and AI into measurable operational results
In most emergency departments, beds are a hot commodity. But some patients don’t actually need a bed for their treatment – and accurately identifying those people is a low-lift but effective way to increase efficiency without sacrificing care quality, finds a study recently published in the journal Management Science.
The researchers developed a simple decision tree, informed by mathematical and machine learning models, to help staff decide whether a patient truly needs a bed or can be routed to a “vertical processing pathway” – that is, an area where they can be treated sitting up. Many hospitals already have such an area but don’t necessarily have a systematic way to decide which patients are treated there.
American teenagers start their school day too early.
Medical experts have been clear for years: sleep cycle changes during puberty make it hard for teenagers to learn in the early morning. Later school start times have been linked to better sleep, improved mental health, stronger academic performance and even safer driving.
Most school district leaders know about this problem and care about fixing it. But changing the schedule can feel operationally impossible.
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Governors, please take a step back. It is time for mayors and city officials in your largest cities to assume full authority for managing the COVID-19 response in their communities. The very public battle between the governor of Georgia and the mayor of Atlanta exemplifies how the COVID-19 response has become more about political partisanship than public wellbeing.
Chicago grabbed the headlines in April and May with its surge of Covid-19 cases and deaths. It is relinquishing that dubious distinction to small cities and rural areas. Based on Illinois Department of Public Health data, since August 1, 29% of new state-wide cases have been in small cities and rural areas (those outside of the Chicago metropolitan area and the two primary Illinois counties east of St. Louis). For deaths, this number jumps to over 38%.
COVID-19 is poised to overhaul the college sports playing field. With all the uncertainty surrounding fall sports, with the Big Ten and Pac-12 delaying all competition, the intercollegiate sports business model is ripe for structural changes. The #WeAreUnited movement is symptomatic of the discontent, frustration and concern among student athletes.
The Big Ten and Pac-12 conferences pulled the trigger to delay (the better word is cancel) college football until the spring. The Big 12, Atlantic Coast and Southeastern conferences all seem intent to follow through and play this fall. Any conference decision to delay football, or any college sport for that matter, ensures that the sport will not be played this academic year.
SierraSierra Imwalle, a real estate agent in Ann Arbor, Michigan, is taking the COVID-19 pandemic seriously. When she shows houses to clients, she takes precautions: masks, distance, hand sanitizer. She’s avoiding the denser, usually crowded downtown area and steering clear of restaurants. Other people in Ann Arbor are also sticking to public health recommendations, she says. They’re wearing masks and following stay-at-home orders. “We’ve done a really good job maintaining a low number of cases,” she says.
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