System and method for prediction of patient admission rates

A computer-implemented system for predicting patient demand in a medical facility during a specified time period, the system including:

• one or more processors;
• a database, accessible to the processor(s), containing historical data of patient demand during one or more past time periods;
• at least one output interface operatively associated with the processor(s);
• and
• at least one storage medium containing program instructions for execution by the processor(s), said program instructions causing the processor(s) to execute the steps of:
• associating with the specified time period at least two distinguishing characteristics, wherein a first distinguishing characteristic characterises a day within which the specified time period occurs, and a second distinguishing characteristic relates to a timeframe within which the day occurs;
• extracting from the database historical patient demand data corresponding with past time periods having distinguishing characteristics equivalent to those associated with the specified time period;
• computing a prediction of patient demand during the specified time period, using a predictive model based upon the extracted data;
• outputting the prediction of patient demand via the output interface.

An apparatus for predicting patient demand in a medical facility during a specified time period, the apparatus including:

• a database containing historical data of patient demand during one or more past time period;
• means for associating with the specified time period at least two distinguishing characteristics, wherein a first distinguishing characteristic characterises a day within which the specified time period occurs, and a second distinguishing characteristic relates to a timeframe within which the day occurs;
• means for extracting from the database historical patient demand data corresponding with past time period having distinguishing characteristics equivalent to those associated with the specified time period;
• means for applying a computational predictive model to the extracted data to generate a prediction of patient demand during the specified time period;
• and
• means for outputting the prediction of patient demand to a visual display unit, a file and/or other output device.