The local office of analytics software provider SAS Philippines recently donated to the government some of the research reports that took part in its 2014 Call for Papers Competition.
Among the reports is the winning paper of Aizobelle Huelgas, a former professor at the University of the Philippines Los Ba?os (UPLB), titled ?Saving Lives, Changing Lives Using SAS Predictive Analytics.?
The study dealt with forecasting the pattern of supply-and-demand for healthcare professionals and clinical supplies in medical institutions to allow providers to effectively allocate manpower and resources.
The author explained that the primary objective of the study was to ?save lives of patients? by generating an accurate prediction regarding the number of patients with a certain disease arriving at a certain time frame.
According to Huelgas, the report can help reduce human losses by providing appropriate and adequate specialists and resources for a health institution at a given time.
?The frequent mismatches between the patients? needs and the available health professionals in the emergency room will definitely be avoided,? she said.
Huelgas said the study can also make an ?accurate forecast that will help in the efficient allocation of healthcare professional resources as well as in the optimization of physician and nurse schedules.?
The study noted that ?the working conditions of physicians and nurses are often stressful due to inadequate staffing schedules, long work hours, which often result to higher rates of depression, anxiety, elevated rates of burnout, absenteeism, and errors.?
SAS donated the paper to the National Kidney and Transplant Institute, which was represented by Dr. Zenaida Antonio, deputy executive director for administrative services.
According to SAS regional director Sonny Halili, the reports were submitted by faculty members and students of SAS Academic Program Partners and focused on a variety of topics, highlighting the flexibility that analytics offers in extrapolating insights from Big Data in a short span of time.
The papers examined trends and patterns and came up with analytical tools that can help decision-makers in arriving at better-informed and timely choices in the fields of agriculture, foreign exchange, finance, tourism, and healthcare.
?SAS Philippines hopes that the papers will encourage the government to take advantage of analytics-based research in furthering their development policies and agenda. We believe that by being open to the concept of data analytics, our public servants can be better equipped to improve the life of Juan dela Cruz,? said Halili.
With the success of its maiden call for papers, SAS Philippines is set to open the 2015 Call for Papers. For more details, contact Marianne Decena-Guada?a, Education Manager of SAS Philippines through marianne.decena@sas.com or (02) 792-2200.
