Comorbidities are multiple co-occurring disorders associated with a primary diagnosis and affect health outcomes and cost of care. Using home health medical claims data, a comorbidity database with frequent item-sets, and an exemplar dashboard were created. The dashboard extends the decision making capacity of clinicians by providing data-driven information about (i) the frequency of comorbidities for any primary diagnosis, and (ii) primary diagnoses sufficiently exclusive to a given comorbidity. Regression models estimate total charges, for any underlying patient comorbidity profile. Using the exemplar dashboard, a panel of healthcare researchers recommended appropriate system parameters to adjust system sensitivity and improve construct validity. The comorbidity database will be useful in future research efforts to study comorbidity, while the exemplar dashboard can provide the foundation for integrated home healthcare decision support systems.
Keywords: Comorbidity; data mining; decision support; diagnosis; home health.