Modeling Approaches for Cost and Cost-Effectiveness Estimation Using Observational Data

The estimation of treatment effects on medical costs and cost effectiveness measures is complicated by the need to account for non-independent censoring, skewness and the effects of confounders. In this dissertation, we develop several cost and cost-effectiveness tools that account for these issues. Since medical costs are often collected from observational claims data, we investigate propensity score methods such as covariate adjustment, stratification, inverse probability weighting and doubly robust weighting. We also propose several doubly robust estimators for common cost effectiveness measures. Lastly, we explore the role of big data tools and machine learning algorithms in cost estimation. We show how these modern techniques can be applied to big data manipulation, cost prediction and dimension reduction

Orchestration Mechanism Impact on Virtual Network Function Throughput

Virtual Network Function (VNF) has gained importance in the IT industry, especially in the telecommunication industry, because a VNF runs network services in commodity hardware instead of dedicated hardware, thereby increasing the scalability and agility. The container technology is a useful tool for the VNF because it is lightweight, portable and scalable. The container technology shortens the product development cycle by easing the service deployment and maintenance. The telecommunication industry uses service uptime as an important gauge to evaluate if a service is of carrier grade, and keeping services up and running generates most of the maintenance costs. These costs can be reduced by container orchestration such as Kubernetes. Kubernetes handles the automation of deployment, scaling and management for applications with the help of orchestration mechanisms, such as the scheduler and load-balancers. As a result of those mechanisms, the VNFs running in a Kubernetes cluster can reach high availability and flexibility. However, the impact of the mechanisms on VNF throughput has not been studied in detail. The objective of this thesis is to evaluate the influence of Kubernetes orchestration mechanisms on VNF throughput and Quality of Service (QoS). This objective is achieved by means of measurements run with a packet-forwarding service in a Kubernetes cluster. Based on the evaluations, it is concluded that the VNF throughput is dependent on 6 parameters: CPU types, CPU isolation, number of Pods, location of Pods, location of load-balancer controllers, and load-balancing techniques

A place for family: support health through community

Traditional hospital care and medical treatment view patients as individuals, without considering the network of family members or friends who that person relies on for health, or who may themselves rely on the patient for wellbeing. Hospitals focus on healing in a vacuum, and hospital architecture plays a negative role in separating patients from friends and family. As a result, a single person’s illness can break networks of support. There is need for a new kind of program that considers the most important part of this network, family, as a whole. A system of buildings within a single neighborhood surrounding a healthcare facility could be used to improve the role hospitals play in patient and community wellness, a place that supports complex interrelationships, allowing people to move in between and support each other to heal as a whole. Phenix Iron Foundry in Providence, RI, was once the core of its neighborhood, and it not only hosted a network of iron workers who labored together within its large halls but attracted the families of these workers. In this way a community was formed. Today the foundry has been renovated as an office building, which separates people into office blocks and completely destroys the communal foots of the building. However, Phenix Foundry is located near on of the state’s largest hospitals and health facilities. Could the Phenix Foundry function again as a core to connect these health resources and support them to improve patient/family support? If a member of your family needs hospital care, you may need to find housing near their care facility. However, there is a huge imbalance between Providence’s hospital facilities and temporary living spaces. Most of the hotels and apartment buildings are distant from care facilities. A convenient living space for families of patients is needed, within walking distance of the hospital and capable of hosting the network of support patients need to recover. Within this space for living and interacting between family members and patients, design strategies can provide the opportunity to create a different environment for all, a place where people can recover as one, as family units in unusually difficult circumstances and not as patients