To begin, access the Data Set spreadsheet. As you work through the data set, post any questions that come up to the General Questions topic.
Unless you have done quite a bit of data analysis, a spreadsheet filled with numbers and percentages can be intimidating. So how do you proceed? One way to work yourself into the data is to go from the general to the specific, or from the broad to the narrow, and ask and answer questions as you go:
Q: What does the data represent overall? In other words, what is the key indicator of performance that we are analyzing?
A: Readmission trends and locations
Q: What data have I been given?
A: One table with statewide readmission information, one table with SNHU Hospital readmission information, and one table that shows where the patients that were released from SNHU Hospital ended up when they were readmitted
Q: What is the time period of the information?
A: January through August of 2015
Next, move into the specifics:
Q: What does the first line tell me?
A: The first table tells the total number of people that were discharged from all hospitals in the state of New Hampshire in each of the months in the time period. The second table tells the total number of people who were discharged from SNHU Hospital in each of the months in the time period.
Q: What does the second to last column in that row tell me?
A: It gives the total number of people discharged in that time period.
Q: What does the last column in that row tell me?
A: It tells how many of those people were part of Medicare.
You can move through each of the rows and columns like this until you are sure you understand the entire chart. Then, you want to begin asking the “why” questions and let those questions lead to more questions:
Q: Why does it matter how many patients were part of Medicare? What extra information does that give me?
A: Only people of a certain age are part of Medicare.
Q: Can I make inferences about risk factors from this information? Can I make conjectures that will lead me to more data and deeper analysis?
Move through the data until you feel comfortable with it. Once you have done that, address the following critical elements in a paper:
What was the average number of readmissions over the eight months for SNHU Hospital?
During which months was the actual number of readmissions higher than the expectedreadmissions for SNHU Hospital?
What was the range of readmissions for SNHU Hospital?
During which months did the highestreadmission rates occur for SNHU Hospital? Which months had the lowest? Speculate why.
