A latent transfer learning method for estimating hospital-specific post-acute healthcare demands following SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Wu, Qiong; Pajor, Nathan M; Lu, Yiwen; Wolock, Charles J; Tong, Jiayi; Lorman, Vitaly; Johnson, Kevin B; Moore, Jason H et al. · Patterns (N Y) · 2024

retrospective_cohort · Level III

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Abstract

The long-term complications of COVID-19, known as the post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC), significantly burden healthcare resources. Quantifying the demand for post-acute healthcare is essential for understanding patients' needs and optimizing the allocation of valuable medical resources for disease management. Driven by this need, we developed a heterogeneous latent transfer learning framework (Latent-TL) to generate critical insights for individual health systems in a distributed research network. Latent-TL enhances learning in a specific health system by borrowing information from all other health systems in the network in a data-driven fashion. By identifying subpopulations with varying healthcare needs, our Latent-TL framework can provide more effective guidance for decision-making. Applying Latent-TL to electronic health record (EHR) data from eight health systems in PEDSnet, a national learning health system in the US, revealed four distinct patient subpopulations with heterogeneous post-acute healthcare demands following COVID-19 infections, varying across subpopulations and hospitals.