Automated Extraction of Diagnostic Criteria From Electronic Health Records for Autism Spectrum Disorders: Development, Evaluation, and Application (Preprint)

Abstract

Background: Electronic health records (EHR) bring many opportunities for information utilization. One such use is the surveillance conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to track cases of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). This process currently comprises the manual collection and review of EHR of 4-and 8-year old children in 11 U.S. states for the presence of ASD criteria. The work is time-consuming and expensive.