WGU C985 HEALTH CARE ANALYTICS EXAM QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Linear regression - (answer)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 - (answer)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 - (answer)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 - (answer)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 - (answer)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
, WGU C985 HEALTH CARE ANALYTICS EXAM QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
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 - (answer)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 - (answer)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) - (answer)Operates through the CDC: data on birth, death,
marriages, divorces, and fetal deaths.
Public Health Databases - (answer)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) - (answer)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.
Medicare Provider Analysis and Review (MEDPAR) - (answer)Acute care and skilled nursing facility claims
data. Demographics on patient, information on provider, on Medicare coverage for the claim, total
charges, charges broken down, codes and diagnostic related group (DRG) data. Only contains data on
Medicare patients.
Linear regression - (answer)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 - (answer)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 - (answer)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 - (answer)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 - (answer)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
, WGU C985 HEALTH CARE ANALYTICS EXAM QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
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 - (answer)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 - (answer)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) - (answer)Operates through the CDC: data on birth, death,
marriages, divorces, and fetal deaths.
Public Health Databases - (answer)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) - (answer)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.
Medicare Provider Analysis and Review (MEDPAR) - (answer)Acute care and skilled nursing facility claims
data. Demographics on patient, information on provider, on Medicare coverage for the claim, total
charges, charges broken down, codes and diagnostic related group (DRG) data. Only contains data on
Medicare patients.
