Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37847651›Full record

ArticleJournal of the American Medical Informatics Association : JAMIA2024

Utilizing patient-nurse verbal communication in building risk identification models: the missing critical data stream in home healthcare.

Maryam Zolnoori, Sridevi Sridharan, Ali Zolnour, Sasha Vergez, Margaret V McDonald, Zoran Kostic, Kathryn H Bowles, Maxim Topaz

Open access · greenAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association : JAMIA, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
4.7field-weighted citation impact, top 6% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed, 6 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. From Conversation to Standardized Terminology: An LLM-RAG Approach for Automated Health Problem Identification in Home Healthcare.Journal of nursing scholarship : an official publication of Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing · 2025
    Article
  4. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Maryam ZolnooriSchool of Nursing, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, United States.
Sridevi Sridharan
Ali ZolnourSchool of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Tehran, Tehran 14395-515, Iran.
Sasha VergezCenter for Home Care Policy & Research, VNS Health, New York, NY 10017, United States.
Margaret V McDonaldCenter for Home Care Policy & Research, VNS Health, New York, NY 10017, United States.
Zoran KosticElectrical Engineering Department, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, United States.
Kathryn H BowlesCenter for Home Care Policy & Research, VNS Health, New York, NY 10017, United States.
Maxim TopazSchool of Nursing, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, United States.
Columbia University · USUniversity of Pennsylvania · USUniversity of Tehran · IR

Funding

Using automated speech processing to improve identification of risk for hospitalizations and emergency department visits in home healthcareR01AG081928 · NIA · COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES · PI Julia B. Hirschberg, Zoran Kostic · 2023 to 2026
$2.5M
Development of a Screening Algorithm for Timely Identification of Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment and Early Dementia in Home HealthcareK99AG076808 · NIA · COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES · PI ZOLNOORI, MARYAM · 2023 to 2024
$230k
NIA NIH HHS K99 AG076808NIA NIH HHS K99AG076808NIA NIH HHS R01 AG081928
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundIn the United States, over 12 000 home healthcare agencies annually serve 6+ million patients, mostly aged 65+ years with chronic conditions. One in three of these patients end up visiting emergency department (ED) or being hospitalized. Existing risk identification models based on electronic health record (EHR) data have suboptimal performance in detecting these high-risk patients.

objectivesTo measure the added value of integrating audio-recorded home healthcare patient-nurse verbal communication into a risk identification model built on home healthcare EHR data and clinical notes.

methodsThis pilot study was conducted at one of the largest not-for-profit home healthcare agencies in the United States. We audio-recorded 126 patient-nurse encounters for 47 patients, out of which 8 patients experienced ED visits and hospitalization. The risk model was developed and tested iteratively using: (1) structured data from the Outcome and Assessment Information Set, (2) clinical notes, and (3) verbal communication features. We used various natural language processing methods to model the communication between patients and nurses.

resultsUsing a Support Vector Machine classifier, trained on the most informative features from OASIS, clinical notes, and verbal communication, we achieved an AUC-ROC = 99.68 and an F1-score = 94.12. By integrating verbal communication into the risk models, the F-1 score improved by 26%. The analysis revealed patients at high risk tended to interact more with risk-associated cues, exhibit more "sadness" and "anxiety," and have extended periods of silence during conversation.

conclusionThis innovative study underscores the immense value of incorporating patient-nurse verbal communication in enhancing risk prediction models for hospitalizations and ED visits, suggesting the need for an evolved clinical workflow that integrates routine patient-nurse verbal communication recording into the medical record.

Indexed as

Home Care ServicesCommunicationDelivery of Health CareHumansMedical RecordsPilot ProjectsUnited Statesaudio-recorded patient-nurse verbal communicationemergency department visit and hospitalizationhome healthcaremachine learningnatural language processing

Identifiers

PMID37847651
PMCPMC10797261
OpenAlexW4387701108

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.