WGU D514 ANALYTICAL METHODS OF HEALTHCARE
LEADERS - QUESTIONS
Linear regression - Answers - In conversations with her patients, a physical therapist
notices that patients who are on Workman's Compensation and have supportive
supervisors, eager for them to return to work, have more positive outcomes in
rehabilitation than those patients whose supervisors have a negative attitude toward
their employee's injury: insisting they not return to work until they are at 100% because
if anything less they are "useless to the job".
What type of test could the therapist use to see if these two factors have a measurable
relationship?
Regression analysis - Answers - Data analysts at a large metropolitan hospital need to
determine risk factors associated with readmission within 30 days via the hospital's
emergency room among patients with COPD. The variables of interest include age,
gender, race/ethnicity, insurance status, and family support. Which statistical technique
should be used?
ANOVA - Answers - Several community health centers across a rural state are
gathering data on their pre-diabetic patients and using A1c levels as a baseline
measurement to include patients in a research project. Three different interventions will
be applied.
One group of patients will receive a special diet to follow; the second group will work
with physical therapists on a regular exercise program; the third group will follow the diet
and engage in the exercise.
Which statistical test will be appropriate to use to determine which treatment is most
effective in controlling pre-diabetes?
time series - Answers - A hospital CFO is analyzing the cost benefits of using the
patient reminder system, which was implemented over a year ago, to see if the
automated system results in less missed appointments ("no-shows").
She is comparing quarterly reports from this past year on volume of patients who did not
show up to their appointments, to the volume of patients of the previous year, who did
not show up to their appointments, to see if the automated system has proven effective.
She is considering other variables as she reviews the data, but is primarily analyzing the
number of "no-show" patients from last year's quarterly reports to this year's.
Cross-sectional - Answers - There are two standard treatments for children with ADHD
who display a specific set of characteristics. One treatment is a cognitive behavioral
intervention, and the other is a dietary and biomedical intervention. Both treatments
have equally strong clinical evidence supporting their efficacy. A researcher proposes a
comparison of the two interventions to determine which is preferable. The children will
, be randomized to one of two groups: half of the children will receive the cognitive
behavioral intervention and the other half of the children will receive the dietary and
biomedical intervention. Which test is appropriate to determining the preferable
treatment?
The mean (average) length of stay and
The mean number of providers seeing each patient each day - Answers - The vice
president, CMO, and Operations Team collected data on resources used by patients
who have undergone coronary bypass and the length of stays for a defined population
of patients who received CABG surgery. Since the raw data is complex to discuss and
evaluate, the team will use descriptive statistics to analyze the data to support their
decisions for recommendations.
Which of the following descriptive statistics could prove the most useful?
National Healthcare Survey - Answers - Operates through CDC; the National Health
Care Surveys are designed to answer key questions of interest to health care policy
makers, public health professionals, and researchers.
National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) - Answers - Operates through the CDC:
data on birth, death, marriages, divorces, and fetal deaths.
Public Health Databases - Answers - Incidence and prevalence of diseases, survival
statistics, high-risk populations, trends over time. Data gathered from medical records,
surveys, interviews. NCHS has responsibility for these databases.
National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB) - Answers - This database is queried as part
of the physician credentialing process when applying for medical staff privileges and
every two years afterward. It contains data on medical malpractice, adverse licensure
actions, suspensions, certain professional review actions, such as denial of medical
staff privileges.
Patient Satisfaction Surveys - Answers - Used as an indicator for measuring the quality
in health care. Affects clinical outcomes, patient retention, and medical malpractice
claims.
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) - Answers - Division of
Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). Is responsible for developing
healthcare policy in the U.S., and administering Medicare program and federal portion
of Medicaid program.
Master Patient Index (MPI) - Answers - Contains patient-identifiable information such
as patient demographics, dates of hospitalization or other types of encounters, health
record number (medical record number) and physician.
LEADERS - QUESTIONS
Linear regression - Answers - In conversations with her patients, a physical therapist
notices that patients who are on Workman's Compensation and have supportive
supervisors, eager for them to return to work, have more positive outcomes in
rehabilitation than those patients whose supervisors have a negative attitude toward
their employee's injury: insisting they not return to work until they are at 100% because
if anything less they are "useless to the job".
What type of test could the therapist use to see if these two factors have a measurable
relationship?
Regression analysis - Answers - Data analysts at a large metropolitan hospital need to
determine risk factors associated with readmission within 30 days via the hospital's
emergency room among patients with COPD. The variables of interest include age,
gender, race/ethnicity, insurance status, and family support. Which statistical technique
should be used?
ANOVA - Answers - Several community health centers across a rural state are
gathering data on their pre-diabetic patients and using A1c levels as a baseline
measurement to include patients in a research project. Three different interventions will
be applied.
One group of patients will receive a special diet to follow; the second group will work
with physical therapists on a regular exercise program; the third group will follow the diet
and engage in the exercise.
Which statistical test will be appropriate to use to determine which treatment is most
effective in controlling pre-diabetes?
time series - Answers - A hospital CFO is analyzing the cost benefits of using the
patient reminder system, which was implemented over a year ago, to see if the
automated system results in less missed appointments ("no-shows").
She is comparing quarterly reports from this past year on volume of patients who did not
show up to their appointments, to the volume of patients of the previous year, who did
not show up to their appointments, to see if the automated system has proven effective.
She is considering other variables as she reviews the data, but is primarily analyzing the
number of "no-show" patients from last year's quarterly reports to this year's.
Cross-sectional - Answers - There are two standard treatments for children with ADHD
who display a specific set of characteristics. One treatment is a cognitive behavioral
intervention, and the other is a dietary and biomedical intervention. Both treatments
have equally strong clinical evidence supporting their efficacy. A researcher proposes a
comparison of the two interventions to determine which is preferable. The children will
, be randomized to one of two groups: half of the children will receive the cognitive
behavioral intervention and the other half of the children will receive the dietary and
biomedical intervention. Which test is appropriate to determining the preferable
treatment?
The mean (average) length of stay and
The mean number of providers seeing each patient each day - Answers - The vice
president, CMO, and Operations Team collected data on resources used by patients
who have undergone coronary bypass and the length of stays for a defined population
of patients who received CABG surgery. Since the raw data is complex to discuss and
evaluate, the team will use descriptive statistics to analyze the data to support their
decisions for recommendations.
Which of the following descriptive statistics could prove the most useful?
National Healthcare Survey - Answers - Operates through CDC; the National Health
Care Surveys are designed to answer key questions of interest to health care policy
makers, public health professionals, and researchers.
National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) - Answers - Operates through the CDC:
data on birth, death, marriages, divorces, and fetal deaths.
Public Health Databases - Answers - Incidence and prevalence of diseases, survival
statistics, high-risk populations, trends over time. Data gathered from medical records,
surveys, interviews. NCHS has responsibility for these databases.
National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB) - Answers - This database is queried as part
of the physician credentialing process when applying for medical staff privileges and
every two years afterward. It contains data on medical malpractice, adverse licensure
actions, suspensions, certain professional review actions, such as denial of medical
staff privileges.
Patient Satisfaction Surveys - Answers - Used as an indicator for measuring the quality
in health care. Affects clinical outcomes, patient retention, and medical malpractice
claims.
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) - Answers - Division of
Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). Is responsible for developing
healthcare policy in the U.S., and administering Medicare program and federal portion
of Medicaid program.
Master Patient Index (MPI) - Answers - Contains patient-identifiable information such
as patient demographics, dates of hospitalization or other types of encounters, health
record number (medical record number) and physician.
