Algorithmic hospital catchment area estimation using label propagation.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Hospital catchment areas define the primary population of a hospital and are central to assessing the potential demand on that hospital, for example, due to infectious disease outbreaks.

Methods

We present a novel algorithm, based on label propagation, for estimating hospital catchment areas, from the capacity of the hospital and demographics of the nearby population, and without requiring any data on hospital activity.

Results

The algorithm is demonstrated to produce a mapping from fine grained geographic regions to larger scale catchment areas, providing contiguous and realistic subdivisions of geographies relating to a single hospital or to a group of hospitals. In validation against an alternative approach predicated on activity data gathered during the

SUBMITTER: Challen RJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9235278 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature