Harnessing EMR data and artificial intelligence methods to identify health inequities and support action on the social determinants of health in primary care

Data to Enable a Learning Health System

In Progress

Artificial Intelligence, Electronic Medical Records, Primary Care, Social Determinants of Health

September 2021 - August 2023 | Funders: CIHR Health System Impact Postdoctoral Fellowship | Partners: Unity Health Toronto (St. Michael's Hospital)

About

Social determinants are factors that play a key role in our health and well-being. These determinants are also important for health care teams to be aware of, so they can provide comprehensive, equitable care for patients. This study will test artificial intelligence methods to derive information about patient social needs from electronic medical records. We will also co-design ways for this information to be presented to the Family Health Team at St. Michael’s Hospital. Overall, this research aims to use a data-driven approach to support equitable clinical care and address the wider health needs of patients.

Impact

This work will contribute to the advancement of EMR data science, particularly in the use of natural language processing for data extraction and categorization. Additionally, this will provide important information about patient social determinants of health to clinicians at St. Michael’s Hospital, who can use this to improve care and outreach for their patients.

Team Members

Stephanie Garies (Postdoctoral Fellow/Project Lead)
Andrew Pinto (Principal Investigator & Co-Supervisor)
Dr. Karen Weyman (Co-Investigator & Co-Supervisor)
Dr. Noah Crampton (Co-Investigator)
Christopher Meaney (Co-Investigator)
Dr. Jessica Gronsbell (Co-Investigator)
Dr. Karen Tu (Co-Investigator)
Dr. Noor Ramji (Co-Investigator)
Dr. Mo Alhaj (Co-Investigator)
Harnessing EMR data and artificial intelligence methods to identify health inequities and support action on the social determinants of health in primary care (Co-Investigator)
Dr. Simon Liang (Co-Investigator)
Dr. Tony Fang (Co-Investigator)
Rick Wang (Collaborator)

Contact Information

Dr. Stephanie Garies
stephanie.garies@unityhealth.to