First UK trust uses new solution to get actionable answers from complex clinical data
Wolfram Research and NHS England lead ground-breaking project to improve data collection and use at University Hospital Coventry & Warwickshire NHS Trust
Wolfram Research and NHS England are working together to help improve efficiency and effectiveness within one NHS trust.
The joint project will harness Wolfram’s technology and expertise to begin to get actionable answers from complex aggregated clinical data.
“At the moment, complexities of data and modelling often seem insurmountable to hospitals, which means knowledge remains hidden in the data,” said project lead, Alison Leary, chairman of healthcare and workforce modelling at London South Bank University.
ata computation – turning raw data into meaningful, actionable results – is one of the least-explored frontiers in UK healthcare
“Applying advanced mathematical models can dramatically improve results, but health is a very complex area to model. Data is typically fuzzy, so it needs a careful, sophisticated approach to garner optimised results. Wolfram is a leader in this field.”
The first phase of the project will see Wolfram crunch the numbers. To do so, it will develop algorithms for data supplied by University Hospital Coventry & Warwickshire NHS Trust, which has a large body of routinely-collected data ready for analysis.
Wolfram's aim will be to help the hospital predict when, where, and how to deploy its staff in any given situation.
"We want to work with Wolfram for three reasons," said Leary.
"It is used to handling large amounts of data in a secure way; the company offers a unique mix of technology, maths and data science techniques; and it has a worldwide team of experts. Most universities can’t do what Wolfram can do in a short time period."
The NHS is sitting on a goldmine of collected data: now it's up to us at Wolfram to turn that information into knowledge that will improve health care in this country
Jon McLoone, director of technical services at Wolfram Research Europe, said: “Data computation – turning raw data into meaningful, actionable results – is one of the least-explored frontiers in UK healthcare. This group of NHS researchers and academics is a team of visionaries because it has seen the potential of all the information gathered in the past. The NHS is sitting on a goldmine of collected data: now it's up to us at Wolfram to turn that information into knowledge that will improve health care in this country."
Conrad Wolfram, chief executive, added: “The world's-biggest body of clinical data needs allying to the world's-best data computation, so that data can turn into good decisions.
“We've spent over 25 years building the best computation to achieve just this, so it's exciting that we’re now using that computation to improve effectiveness and efficiency in the NHS. Britain can lead the world in clinical management data science."
