This May marks the third anniversary of the strategic collaboration between OSF HealthCare Analytics and the Department of Mathematics at Illinois State University, a partnership dedicated to fostering innovation and student research in data science, statistical modeling, and health care analytics.

On May 12, 13 students and faculty members from Illinois State’s Department of Mathematics visited the JUMP Trading Simulation & Education Center in Peoria to advance discussions on their ongoing research project, “Advancing Predictive Models with SDOH Integration in Healthcare.” Supported by the Illinois State/OSF Connected Community Initiative (CCI) grant, the project is co-led by Dr. Maochao Xu, professor of Mathematics at Illinois State, and Chris Franciskovich, vice president for advanced analytics at OSF Innovation.

By integrating Social Drivers of Health (SDOH) data with traditional patient records, the project aims to develop more accurate predictive models for 30-day hospital readmission and health care cost forecasting. The research team seeks to uncover key SDOH features, enhance existing models, and fine-tune them for actionable health care insights.

The visit began with opening remarks from Mark Hohulin, senior vice president of Healthcare Analytics at OSF, followed by a project overview from Franciskovich and Xu. Students from Illinois State’s data science, applied mathematics, statistics, and actuarial science programs then showcased their work on:

• Predictive Modeling for MSSP Cost Using SDOH Data
• Hospital Readmission Risk Analysis via Machine Learning and SDOH Integration
• Nonlinear Bayesian Approaches to Health Care Data Prediction

Initial results highlight the significant influence of SDOH factors, such as safety, transportation access, and housing stability, on hospital readmission and health care costs. Students received expert feedback from OSF researchers and gained valuable insight into real-world applications of data science in health care, including a behind-the-scenes look at the OSF analytics team’s daily operations.

The OSF-Illinois State partnership continues to serve as a vital conduit for student researchers to bridge the gap between academic theory and industry practice, cultivating the next generation of data-driven problem-solvers and health care innovators in Illinois State’s Department of Mathematics.