Patent ID: 6917926

Claim:
A computer-executable method for using machine learning to predict an outcome, the method comprising: defining a first outcome associated with a first range of medical costs at least as great as a cost threshold; defining a second outcome associated with a second range of medical costs less than the cost threshold, wherein the second outcome is more likely than the first outcome; and processing training data with a machine learning system, wherein said training data is a subset of a data set and is recorded in a computer-readable medium, and wherein the act of processing the training data includes: selecting a first subset of the training data, the first subset corresponding to the first outcome; selecting a second subset of the training data, the second subset corresponding to the second outcome and consisting of a set of nearby neighbors to the first outcome; and selecting a third subset of the training data, the third subset corresponding to the second outcome, wherein the third subset does not consist of nearby neighbors to the first outcome; and using a plurality of software-based, computer-executable machine learners to develop from the first, second and third subsets one or more sets of computer-executable rules usable to predict the first outcome or the second outcome.