Module 05 Course Project - Descriptive Statistics

For this assignment you will be analyzing data about the hospital you selected for your Course Project. The choice of data-topic is up to you; this way you can be certain that data is available. This will also give you some freedom to select an area that fits with your degree program, career aspirations, or personal interests.

For example, students focusing on Healthcare Administration might want to focus on topics related to finance, operations or quality; whereas, Health Information Management students might focus on topics related to clinical outcomes, reimbursements, or specific diseases. Personal options might be if you have a special condition or are planning to have a baby and want to perform your statistical analysis focusing on those areas of the hospital as it relates to local and national data. (If you have questions or need ideas, please email your instructor.)

Once you have located your data, analyze it and produce:

1. at least 3 descriptive statistics

1. at least one chart or graph

Present these elements in a 1-2 page paper with properly cited APA references (not including your data and chart/graph information). Be sure to include adequate explanation of the statistics used and their importance as related to the topic.

Descriptive statistics such as means, standard deviations, frequencies, ranges, percentiles, etc. can be used. Your textbook is a great resource for ideas on statistics you can analyze.

You will most likely need to use some statistical analysis software to help make your calculations. You probably have Excel installed on your computer already and can find YouTube videos for 'Descriptive Statistics in Excel'. If you have another software package that you are comfortable using for your job or are feeling adventurous to learn something new, feel free to select different software to help with your analysis.

Compare your hospital with other local and national facilities of comparable size and service options (benchmarking). Some healthcare data resources that might help you can be found in the list below.

Some Helpful Healthcare Data Resources

If you find the website URLs have changed, search for the organization and locate the data it offers.

• CMS Hospital Compare Tool
• AHRQ
• http://hcupnet.ahrq.gov/ provides access to health statistics and information on hospital inpatient and emergency department utilization.
• Healthypeople.gov - DATA2020 Search: http://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/data-search/Search-the-Data
• CDC National Center for Health Statistics: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/
• CDC Chronic Disease Indicator Database: http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/cdi/
• National Library of Medicine Data Tools and Statistics: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/hsrinfo/datasites.html
• CMS Data: https://dnav.cms.gov/Views/Search.aspx
• CMS Research, Statistics, Data, and Systems: http://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems.html
• National Vital Statistics: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss.htm
• Google for your Local State Department of Health, some resources may be listed here: http://www.statelocalgov.net/50states-health.cfm

Remember to include properly cited APA references and save any sources used for an annotated bibliography that you will be creating as a project deliverable later in the course.