Integrating Artificial Intelligence and Contextual Factors in Emergency Care

A special issue of Healthcare (ISSN 2227-9032). This special issue belongs to the section "Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 June 2026 | Viewed by 822

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Faculty of Health Sciences, Universidad de Castilla la Mancha, 45600 Talavera de la Reina, Castilla-La Mancha, Spain
Interests: prehospital; emergency medicine; risk scores; biomarkers; emergency medical services
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculty of Health Sciences, University of de Castilla-La Mancha, 45600 Talavera de la Reina, Spain
Interests: CPR; prehospital; emergency medicine; nursing; early warning scores
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Emergency medical systems, whether in urban or rural settings, face persistent challenges in ensuring timely and effective patient care. Health professionals often make critical decisions with limited information, under intense time pressure, and across highly variable environmental and resource conditions. Early Warning Tools (EWTs) have become fundamental in supporting early detection of clinical deterioration due to their simplicity and rapid applicability. Yet, conventional EWTs remain limited by static data inputs and the absence of continuous monitoring, particularly in resource-constrained or geographically diverse contexts.

The increasing availability of electronic health records (EHRs), along with real-time data from digital and environmental sources, offers new opportunities for more adaptive and inclusive early warning systems. By combining these data streams with artificial intelligence (AI) and big data analytics, it is possible to generate dynamic risk models that account for both clinical and contextual variables—such as urban density, infrastructure, or access to healthcare.

This broader, data-driven approach could enhance prognostic accuracy, tailor interventions to specific populations and settings, and support more equitable healthcare delivery. Ultimately, integrating AI with contextual awareness may redefine early risk assessment and decision-making in emergency medicine.

This Special Issue aims to collect innovative research that leverages AI to integrate these clinical and contextual data streams, ultimately improving the speed and accuracy of early warning systems in emergency care. We welcome submissions of original research and reviews on this topic.

You may choose our Joint Special Issue in JCM.

Prof. Dr. Ancor Sanz-García
Prof. Dr. José Luis Martín-Conty
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • emergency care
  • artificial intelligence
  • early warning systems
  • data-driven healthcare
  • predictive analytics

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

22 pages, 2141 KB  
Article
Association Between Rurality and Mortality: Observational Study of Spanish and United States Prehospital Emergency Care Cohorts
by Álvaro Astasio-Picado, José Luis Martín-Conty, Begoña Polonio-López, Cristina Rivera-Picón, Juan J. Bernal-Jiménez, Paula Álvarez Buitrago, Jorge García-Criado, María Cubillo-Jiménez, Juan F. Delgado Benito, Francisco Martín-Rodríguez and Ancor Sanz-García
Healthcare 2026, 14(7), 946; https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare14070946 - 4 Apr 2026
Viewed by 498
Abstract
Background/Objectives: Differences between rural and urban settings, as well as between emergency medical service (EMS) systems, may influence short-term mortality among patients attended in the prehospital setting. The aim of this study was to determine the associations of rurality and the US and [...] Read more.
Background/Objectives: Differences between rural and urban settings, as well as between emergency medical service (EMS) systems, may influence short-term mortality among patients attended in the prehospital setting. The aim of this study was to determine the associations of rurality and the US and Spanish EMS health systems with patient mortality. Methods: This was a multicenter, EMS-based, observational study involving a prospective dataset, the Salud de Castilla y Leon dataset (SACYL) from Spain, and a retrospective dataset, the National Emergency Medical Services Information System (NEMSIS) from the US. All consecutive EMS activations of adult patients (≥18 years) requiring high-priority transport to emergency departments were included in the analysis. The collected variables included demographic characteristics, EMS transport characteristics, case characteristics, and rural or urban origin. The primary outcome was 2-day, short-term mortality. Results: A total of 54,981 EMS activations were considered from both datasets. The mortality rate was 8.47% for rural areas and 11.8% for urban areas (p < 0.001). Multivariable analyses showed that mortality patterns differed according to geographic setting and EMS system. Male sex and the use of advanced life support were associated with higher odds of mortality in several models, while prehospital time intervals and call characteristics showed context- and system-dependent associations, including protective effects in specific subgroups. Conclusions: Short-term mortality differed between rural and urban settings, with heterogeneous patterns across EMS systems. These findings highlight the importance of considering both geographic context and system-level organizational characteristics when evaluating prehospital care and mortality outcomes. Full article
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