Funding of ambulatory care sensitive conditions in Europe: a machine learning-based analysis of European research programs

Daniel Dias, Bernardo Sousa-Pinto, Manuel Marques-Cruz, Mariana Fialho, Ana Garrido-Oliveira, Ana Jacinta Abreu, António Soares

Keywords: Research funding; Research priorization; ambulatory care sensitive conditions

Background:

Introduction: Ambulatory Care Sensitive Conditions (ACSCs) are crucial in healthcare systems, as effective outpatient care can prevent hospitalizations. However, there is limited understanding of the funding landscape for projects addressing ACSCs. This study employs a Large Language Model (LLM) to analyze European research programs for funded research projects related to ACSCs.

Research questions:

Does public clinical research funding align with prevalence and burden of diseases, particularly in ambulatory care sensitive conditions?

Method:

We will conduct a analysis of randomly selected research projects from the CORDIS European platform and manually label them with ICD-10 codes. We will use the labelled corpora to finetune a Falcon-40B Large Language model to automatically attribute ICD10 codes to research projects under the Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe programs. We will then conduct a manual analysis on research projects whose ICD10 codes match those identified in a previous systematic review as ACSCs in the European setting. Finally, the funding volumes for each ICD10 code identified in the final set of research projects will be compared with current estimates on identified pathologies’ prevalence and burdens in European healthcare systems.

Results:

The analysis will identify disparities in the allocation of funds across different ACSCs in comparison with their perceived relevance and current impact in primary health sector. We will identify potential tendencies to prioritize certain conditions and areas over others, leading to gaps in funding relative to the burden of specific ACSCs.

Conclusions:

Findings will most likely suggest the need for more strategic and data-driven approaches in funding research in Europe. The disparities and gaps that may be identified in this study will highlight potential areas for policy intervention. This research will also serve as a use case to demonstrate and validate the utility of LLMs in health policy research, and to more effective pathways for research funding to impact patient outcomes.

Points for discussion:

Current research funding panorama in primary care

Usage of preventable hospitabilizations indexes as primary care performance incentive

Studies methodological discussion

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