HLT-362V Topic 1: What Is Statistics and Why It Is Important to Health Sciences?
HLT-362V Topic 1: What Is Statistics and Why It Is Important to Health Sciences?
Statistics is the science of collecting and analyzing data. It is often used in health sciences to help researchers understand relationships between different variables, such as risk factors and disease outcomes. Statistics can also be used to design clinical trials, assess the effectiveness of treatments, and predict future health trends (Tambe & Gajre et al., 2018). Because of its broad applications, statistics is an important tool for anyone working in the health sciences field.
Interestingly, the field of statistics has a long and rich history in the field of healthcare. In fact, many famous statisticians have made major contributions to the advancement of healthcare. For example, in the early 1800s, Dr. John Snow used statistical techniques to investigate the correlation between cholera outbreaks and contaminated water sources (Cho & Jeong, 2019). His work led to improved sanitation practices and helped save countless lives. More recently, statistics has been used to develop vaccination schedules and track disease outbreaks. It has also been instrumental in designing clinical trials and developing new treatments for various diseases. In short, statistics plays a vital role in ensuring that we provide the best possible care for our patients.
There are many examples of how statistical methods have been applied to healthcare in order to improve operations and patient outcomes. One well-known example is the use of Six Sigma techniques, introduced by Bill Smith, to reduce variation and errors in health care processes. Six Sigma is a set of statistical methods that are used to identify and eliminate sources of error and variation in order to improve quality and efficiency. It has been widely used in many industries, but it has been particularly successful in healthcare. Six Sigma has been used to reduce surgical infection rates, length of stay for hospital patients, waiting times for outpatient procedures, and many other aspects of healthcare delivery.
References
Cho, Y. S., & Jeong, S. P. (2019). Application of Disease Pattern Analysis with Lifestyle Risk Factor for Healthcare Promotion Service. 10.20944/preprints201904.0095.v2
Tambe, S. B., & Gajre, S. S. (2018). Cluster-based real-time analysis of mobile healthcare application for prediction of physiological data. Journal of Ambient Intelligence and Humanized Computing, 9(2), 429-445. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12652-017-0562-9
Description
The use of statistics in healthcare is crucial since it guides decision-makers. Health care organizations rely heavily on statistical analysis to evaluate their performance outcomes. Essentially, human service organizations and government health employ statistical data to assess the population’s well-being and general health. Hospitals and pharmaceutical businesses must thoroughly comprehend patients in order to determine the risks associated with the patient, ascertain the efficacy of different therapies, and evaluate symptoms.
Every day, health care providers fight to effectively offer high-quality products and services. The figures assist firms in gauging performance failure and success. Managers for quality enhancements establish service excellence criteria or benchmarks to predict future outcomes. Reliable statistical information may be used to calculate the viability and general development of health care firms, reduce risks of trade-offs, and initiate and discontinue novel treatment. The gathered information may be utilized in clinical trials for novel therapies and technologies to identify the advantages and dangers of the product. When evaluating their successes and failures in terms of their overall performances, these businesses find the data useful. “Diagnostic and screening data,” 2016, p. 130. “Quality Improvement in the quality of delivered services is the responsibility of management, who may use multiple benchmarks to predict future success” The charting of viability and general growth is derived from dependable statistical data, so reducing the risk connected with beginning and ending medication advances in healthcare organizations, as well as the related costs and benefits. The obtained data may be exploited in a variety of ways, such as in clinical studies while searching for new technologies and treatments; only then will the product’s risks and advantages be recognized. The health care industry’s promotion of health may be determined by statistical analysis. The statisticians in the health care business employ all available data to facilitate logical decision-making (Ekin, 2019, p. 149). Health statisticians must communicate extensively with decision-makers in order to contribute to health policies that allow individuals to improve and increase control over their health.
References
Diagnostic and screening statistics. (2016). Statistics Workbook for Evidence-Based Health Care, 147-161.
Ekin, T. (2019). Health care systems and fraud. Statistics and Health Care Fraud, 1-30
Health care quality indicators (Edition 2019). (2017). OECD Health Statistics.
Objectives:
Describe an example of each type of measurement: nominal, ordinal, interval, ratio.
Define basic statistical terms.
Explain the historical application of statistics.
Describe the application of statistics in health care quality, safety, health promotion, and leadership.
Study Materials
Read “Fundamentals of Statistics 1: Basic Concepts :: Nominal, Ordinal, Interval and Ratio,” located on the Usable Stats website.
Health Statistics
Description:
Explore the Health Statistics page of the MedlinePlus website.
Evidence-Based Practice for Nursing: Levels of Evidence
Description:
Read “Evidence-Based Practice for Nursing: Levels of Evidence,” located on the Northern Virginia Community College website.
Measuring the Quality of Healthcare in the U.S.
Description:
Read “Measuring the Quality of Healthcare in the U.S.,” by Claxton, Cox, Gonzales, Kamal, and Levitt (2015), located on the Peterson-Kaiser Health System Tracker website.
Quality Data Critical to Healthcare Decision-Making
Description:
Read “Quality Data Critical to Healthcare Decision-Making,” by Nicholson and Penney (2004), located on the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) website.
Data and Statistics
Description:
Explore the Data and Statistics page of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website.
Health
Description:
Explore Health page of the United States Census Bureau website.
Health Topics: Health Statistics
Description:
Explore the Health Statistics page of the MedlinePluse website.
Tasks
Description:
Statistical application and the interpretation of data is important in health care. Review the statistical concepts covered in this topic. In a 750-1,000 word paper, discuss the significance of statistical application in health care. Include the following:
Describe the application of statistics in health care. Specifically discuss its significance to quality, safety, health promotion, and leadership.
Consider your organization or specialty area and how you utilize statistical knowledge. Discuss how you obtain statistical data, how statistical knowledge is used in day-to-day operations and how you apply it or use it in decision making.
Three peer-reviewed, scholarly or professional references are required.
Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is not required.
This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.
You are required to submit this assignment to LopesWrite. Refer to the LopesWrite Technical Support articles for assistance.
Quiz 1
Description:
This quiz tests your knowledge on the statistical concepts presented in this topic.
Topic 1 DQ 1
Description:
Discuss the historical application of statistics in the field of health care. Describe an example, other than Florence Nightingale’s contributions, where statistical application has greatly influenced or changed health care operations or practice.
Statistics refers to the numerical data which is collected through measurements or observations of a specific phenomenon, organization, or population sample. Numerical data offered by statistics is utilized in health care for its objectivity and ability to introduce data driven programs which can maximize efficiency and gauge the health of large populations. Statistics is utilized in practically every aspect of modern health care as an objective and data driven indicator. A common tool used used by nurses is statistical process control (SPC) charts which have been utilized in the industry for decades allowing to visualize a metric over time. tracking indicators usingSPC charts aided with modern digital technology, helps to identify patterns in rates of occurrence or length of an objective as well as the effectivenes of interventions meant to address the specific component (Hagan,2018). Statistics can be used to enhance patient care to prioritize treatments and comparison options for nursing practice to determine the effectiveness of interventions.
ECPI. (n.d). How do nurses use statistics: Why you need a formal education to become a nurse? Web
Topic 1 DQ 2
Description:
Discuss why it is important for a person working in health care to understand statistical concepts. Provide an example of how statistical data is used in your organization or specialty area today and what you are expected to do with this information as a practitioner.
Topic 1 Participation
Description:
NA
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