Data algorithm helps healthcare providers ID high-risk patients

In health care, not all patients are equal. Some need costly treatment while others are relatively healthy, so providers must often decide who requires more attention and resources. Reston-based information technology firm Altruista Health is attempting to automate that decision process, using its own predictive algorithm to identify a hospital's sickest patients. Mining millions of health records, the 75-person company's software performs a sort of triage, alerting physicians to patients statistically at risk of worsening and then providing treatment suggestions.