Two UHS employees recognized as 'Top 25 Women in Artificial Intelligence'

Congratulations to Amy Booth, Director, Physician Practice Transformation and Performance Analytics and Anemone Kasasbeh, Data Scientist, on being recognized among the Top 25 Women in Artificial Intelligence (AI)!

The list, which only included women in the US Healthcare & Pharma sectors, was created by RE•WORK, a female-led company creating summits, workshops & dinners, bringing together global leaders in AI. Their goal with this recognition is to highlight inspirational women within the US healthcare and pharma sectors who are working at the forefront of AI developments, and who deserve recognition for their achievements.

While nominations are accepted for this recognition, both Amy and Anemone were discovered and nominated for the list by the RE•WORK team through LinkedIn. On top of this great honor, Amy and Anemone were asked to be speakers at RE•WORK's upcoming AI in Healthcare Summit, taking place in Boston, October 13-14.

Both Amy and Anemone work in the Advanced Analytics department at UHS. This team supports hospital and physician practice operations by applying data science to business challenges and providing data-driven recommendations. Their work requires advanced knowledge of artificial intelligence, simulation, machine learning techniques, and high proficiency in using programming languages. The Data Analytics team has been successful in helping UHS answer many questions using data analytics, either by identifying flaws in existing workflows or simulating non-existing future scenarios. In return, their work has helped stakeholders make data-driven decisions, identify bottlenecks, increase efficiency, and growing provider practices when possible. 

One project that the team helped with was understanding why there were high numbers of no-shows associated with postpartum visits in Women's Health. The project focused on identifying the most influential factors that prevented women from showing up to their post-partum visit. Anemone and the team developed multiple prediction models using historical data to understand what was contributing the most to the no-show problem. The data included patients’ travel distance to the clinic, age group, ethnicity, reported transportation issues, patients with multiple children, and other related factors. These models were very helpful in highlighting the most significant contributing factors, which allowed recommendations to be made that have helped lower the frequency of missed appointments. This study was later published in a conference proceeding. 

When UHS is looking to add to their services, the Data Analytics team is consulted. Recently, UHS Delaware Valley Hospital was considering adding Nuclear Medicine services, so they needed to find out if it would be beneficial for the local community, or if this need was already being met. The analysis used referral data for Nuclear Medicine to understand where patients were getting this medical service and if there was an opportunity to bring the service to DVH. This project used data science techniques to understand the potential patient demand. This was followed by a financial analysis based on the forecasted future volumes to predict the potential return on investment. Based on the recommendations, a mobile Nuclear Medicine program was established at DVH and is now available once a week for DVH patients.

To read the full story about the recognitions, click here. Below is their profile write-ups from the press release:

Amy Booth, Director, Physician Practice Transformation and Performance Analytics, UHS Hospitals

Highly self-motivated healthcare professional with a strong academic background in applied data science and advanced analytics, Amy has a proven track record of managing successful projects in challenging business environments utilizing problem-solving, organization, and communication skills that have been demonstrated by over twenty years of healthcare experience. Amy is also a Certified Six Sigma Black Belt.

Anemone Kasasbeh, Data Scientist, United Health Services Hospitals

Anemone is currently working as a Data Scientist at United Health Services Hospitals, which is the largest and most comprehensive provider of healthcare services in upstate New York's Southern Tier. Anemone is also a Ph.D. Candidate at the State University of New York at Binghamton in the Systems Science and Industrial Engineering Department. Her expertise is in advanced data analytics with a focus on healthcare systems. Anemone’s current professional focus is improving healthcare using big data, prediction modeling, simulation, and machine learning to help deliver a better patient experience. Anemone is passionate about using data science in both academia and industry. She has published several peer-reviewed research papers in healthcare and data science.