Table 9.

The interventions linked to each of the top three association rules that our explanation ranking method produced for patient 7.

Rank	Association rule	Linked interventions
1	The patient had ≥7 EDa visits related to asthma during the past year → The patient will likely have ≥1 inpatient stay or ED visit for asthma in the succeeding 12 months.	An intervention linked to the item “the patient had ≥7 ED visits related to asthma during the past year” is to use control strategies to prevent needing emergency care.
2	The patient had between 17 and 27 asthma diagnoses during the past year AND the patient had no outpatient visit during the past year → The patient will likely have ≥1 inpatient stay or ED visit for asthma in the succeeding 12 months.	An intervention linked to the item “the patient had between 17 and 27 asthma diagnoses during the past year” is to give the patient suggestions on how to improve asthma control. An intervention linked to the item “the patient had no outpatient visit during the past year” is to make sure that the patient has a primary care provider and to suggest the patient to regularly visit the provider.
3	The patient’s mean length of stay of an ED visit during the past year was between 0.025 and 0.205 day AND the patient had ≥3 ED visits during the past year AND the patient was prescribed ≥3 asthma relievers that are neither short-acting β-2 agonists nor systemic corticosteroids during the past year AND the patient was prescribed ≥4 systemic corticosteroids during the past year AND the patient is single → The patient will likely have ≥1 inpatient stay or ED visit for asthma in the succeeding 12 months.	An intervention linked to the items “the patient’s mean length of stay of an ED visit during the past year was between 0.025 and 0.205 day” and “the patient had ≥3 ED visits during the past year” is to use control strategies to prevent needing emergency care. An intervention linked to the items “the patient was prescribed ≥3 asthma relievers that are neither short-acting β-2 agonists nor systemic corticosteroids during the past year” and “the patient was prescribed ≥4 systemic corticosteroids during the past year” is to tailor the prescribed asthma medications, to help the patient adhere to asthma controllers, and to improve avoidance of triggers.

^aED: emergency department.