Swedish scientists have developed a connection could be found between visiting a web site for medical assistance and the number of people then the emergency visit. The analytical model can be used to the hustle and bustle in the hospital to predict.
The study was conducted by researchers from the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm. She looked at the crowds on the emergency care in Swedish hospitals predicted on the basis of the numbers of visitors from the Stockholm Health Care Guide website. This site is created for people of medical information. The hypothesis of the scientists was that people first look for information before they the emergency department of the hospital visit.
To put their hypothesis to test was a statistical model drawn up that was released on a dataset with web page traffic and crowds at the emergency department of participating hospitals in Sweden. In a later phase the mathematical model on the basis of the number of visitors to the Stockholm Health Care Guide, the hustle and bustle in hospitals to predict.
The research shows that there is a strong link between use of the website and ziekenhuisdrukte. According to scientists, is the model useful to the hustle and bustle in the emergency to predict. It is unclear, however, whether the found link is applicable in other countries. The model is not externally validated. In addition, it was a retrospective study using the established links, only correlations could be demonstrated and no causality.