Yuzhen Liang Awarded Summer Research Assistantship by the IHSIP
The Boston University Institute for Health System Innovation & Policy (IHSIP) announced that DSLab researcher Yuzhen Liang has been awarded a 2021 summer research assistantship. Yuzhen will work on a project titled “Application of Machine Learning to Real Time Nurse Dispatching.” The project aims to apply machine learning methodologies to develop an algorithm that would set priorities among a group of patients with different needs that may change over time. The results would be used to assign nurses to patients in real time in conjunction with an electronic health record system. The project corresponds to two of the IHSIP domains: (a) Health System Design & Innovation, and (b) Digital Health. It is motivated by the increased complexity of medical decision making that is brought about by technological advances, treatment sophistication, and new medication protocols. These changes make it difficult for even experienced nurses to prioritize care tasks, which can lead to patients suffering from preventable conditions. To compound the challenge, flexible scheduling systems assign nurses to hospital wards based on patient demand, compromising their ability to obtain expertise in each setting.
Yuzhen is pursuing a M.S. degree in Applied Business Analytics. This work will be performed within the MET Decision Sciences Research Lab (DSLab) where Yuzhen has been a research assistant since December 2020. The project will be supervised by Dr. John Maleyeff, Associate Professor of the Practice and co-director of the DSLab. For more information about the DSLab, please go to the decisions support lab.