Anomaly and signature filtering improve classifier performance for detection of suspicious access to EHRs

AMIA Annu Symp Proc. 2011:2011:723-31. Epub 2011 Oct 22.

Abstract

Our objective is to facilitate semi-automated detection of suspicious access to EHRs. Previously we have shown that a machine learning method can play a role in identifying potentially inappropriate access to EHRs. However, the problem of sampling informative instances to build a classifier still remained. We developed an integrated filtering method leveraging both anomaly detection based on symbolic clustering and signature detection, a rule-based technique. We applied the integrated filtering to 25.5 million access records in an intervention arm, and compared this with 8.6 million access records in a control arm where no filtering was applied. On the training set with cross-validation, the AUC was 0.960 in the control arm and 0.998 in the intervention arm. The difference in false negative rates on the independent test set was significant, P=1.6×10(-6). Our study suggests that utilization of integrated filtering strategies to facilitate the construction of classifiers can be helpful.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Artificial Intelligence*
  • Computer Security*
  • Electronic Health Records*
  • Humans
  • Logistic Models
  • Privacy
  • Sensitivity and Specificity