Speech tools to spot hospital or ER risk during home nursing visits
Using automated speech processing to improve identification of risk for hospitalizations and emergency department visits in home healthcare
The project uses computer analysis of nurse-patient conversations during home healthcare to find people at higher risk of hospitalization or emergency department visits.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Columbia University Health Sciences NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (New York, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11370222 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
Researchers will capture and process audio from nurse-patient conversations during in-home nursing visits and use automated speech and language analysis to pull out risk-related cues. They will refine a speech-processing system to identify words, tone, and communication patterns linked to future hospital or ER use. The team will combine these speech-derived signals with electronic health record data to see if prediction of hospitalizations and ED visits improves. Findings will inform whether adding conversation data could help care teams spot problems earlier.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: People receiving in-home nursing care from participating home healthcare agencies, especially older adults, would be the ideal candidates.
Not a fit: People who do not receive home nursing visits or who cannot or will not allow audio recording of their visits are unlikely to benefit directly from this work.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this could help nurses and care teams detect worsening problems sooner and reduce preventable hospital and emergency visits.
How similar studies have performed: Automated speech and language analysis has shown promise in other health areas, but applying it to predict hospital and ER risk in home healthcare is novel and not yet widely proven.
Where this research is happening
New York, United States
- Columbia University Health Sciences — New York, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Topaz, Maxim — Columbia University Health Sciences
- Study coordinator: Topaz, Maxim
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.