Question

According to the CMS Hospital Compare website, a local hospital’s wait time in the emergency room was 37 minutes compared to the national average of 33 minutes (CMS 2015). Hospital leadership requested that a study be conducted to determine if the wait time was significantly higher than national average.

What sort of analysis plan would be appropriate for this study?

What are the some of the potential weaknesses of this approach?

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Answer 1

1. The data analysis plan to conduct a study to determine if the wait time was significantly higher than the national average will have the following details:

• Study to be conducted: This is about the questions or issue, which needs to be resolved. In this case, it is the study to determine if the wait time for patients in the emergency room was significantly higher than the national average.
• Data used: The data for a particular period of time regarding the number of patient visits, time of arrival at the hospital, time of consultation, waiting time, average waiting time, number of patients present at a given time etc.
• Inclusion and/or exclusion criteria: This would include the number of patients who came to the hospital for a consultation, but left without consulting the doctor due to various reasons.
• Variables used in the main analysis: The main exposure, outcome, and stratifying variables to be analyzed. Here calculated variables such as the difference in time of consultation and time of arrival at the hospital are also used.
• Statistical methods and software used: A bivariable analysis to get to the final report or conclusion.

2. Some of the potential weaknesses of this approach are:

a) Delay in getting to the conclusion or it is time-consuming since each and every patient for a particular period of time should be interviewed

b) Missing details of patients arrived but didn't consult, which could have a negative impact on the conclusion.