Operationalizing a real-time scoring model to predict fall risk among older adults in the emergency department

Predictive models are increasingly being developed and implemented to improve patient care across a variety of clinical scenarios. While a body of literature exists on the development of models using existing data, less focus has been placed on practical operationalization of these models for deployment in real-time production environments.

This case-study by HIP Investigator Dr. Brian Patterson describes challenges and barriers identified and overcome in such an operationalization for a model aimed at predicting risk of outpatient falls after Emergency Department (ED) visits among older adults. The study provides general principles for translating an EHR-based predictive model from research and reporting environments into real-time operation.