Predictive Analytics in Health Care and Criminal Justice: Three Case Studies

"Organizations in both the health care and criminal justice fields have been using predictive analytics for a while, but predictive analytics are just beginning to be used in what may best be described as the hybrid field of health care and criminal justice. Predictive analytics are deployed in this hybrid field to anticipate the health needs of the justice-involved, and use this information to treat mental illness as well as other health problems. The underlying assumption is that these pre-emptive actions will reduce the risk of reoffending and reincarceration and thereby promote public safety. In the field of criminal justice, predictive analytics have already been shown to increase public safety through crime prevention" (p. 1). This issue paper presents three case studies showing how predictive analytics is being used by hybrid health and criminal justice systems. The case studies are: the Otsuka Digital Health (ODH) platform in Miami-Dade County used to divert the mentally ill from the local justice system; the utilization of Impact Pro by Centurion (the correctional health care provider for the states of Tennessee, Minnesota, Massachusetts, and Vermont) to treat incarcerated individuals; and the web-based RNR Simulation Tool which generates evidence-based treatment recommendations for the offender.