sample Analytics
“..., I must accentuate their intelligence; they
have the most modern decision-support tools
I have seen from a consulting group, they
always add value.”
- Jeffrey Lieto, Vice President, Ambulatory
Development, Valley Hospital, New Jersey
There is no shortage of data available to healthcare planners and
researchers. We know that our success as healthcare consultants relies
on the effective organization, analysis, and presentation of these data in a
way that best helps to inform our clients’ critical business decisions.
Stroudwater Associates is committed to following data visualization
techniques set forth by Edward Tufte and others that emphasize the
measured and efficient use of ink, colors, and layout styles to maximize
the amount of actionable information in our visual displays while
minimizing distracting or unnecessary elements. The desired result is a
graph, chart, or map that is rich in usable information and clean, clear,
and concise.
The field and study of Information Visualization is rapidly expanding. Stroudwater strives to remain on the cutting-edge by employing the
very latest in visualization software and by continually improving the
ways in which we present data. January 2011
Demographic Data
Population distribution and the market needs of different geographic areas
inform an optimal strategy for the distribution of services and capacity.
Stroudwater mines this data and presents it both through mapping and in a
tabular form to facilitate clear communications to a wide range of stakeholders. To the right is an example of one of our mapping capabilities to summarize demographic data. Each dot represents 50 people.
Patient Origin Data
Patient Origin by service line often reveals a unique service area for
each individual service line. Culling and analyzing this data is critical
to developing a strategy for the geographic distribution of service capacity in order to develop accurate volume projections for each service
line. To the left is an example of a specific service line for a hospital.
Each dot represents the home address of a patient who utilized the obstetric services. One of the findings was that 80% of the service line
patients were within a 22 minute drive time radius.
2
Patient Origin Data
Another way to display patient origin data is with a cartogram, a technique that sizes geographies on a value other than area. Here,
the dependence on one ZIP Code for patients in relation to the surrounding ZIP Codes is made more evident.
3
Market Share
Market share percentages are best displayed geographically and in relation to total discharges in a particular service area. The circles
in the map below are sized based on the total discharges for each ZIP Code. The red section of the circle indicates client hospital
market share percentage.
4



F

G







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




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




6,828

5,099
8,172




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I
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K
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L
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M
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

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
All



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
28,028 3,448 13,568 16,821 13,669 7,549



7,076



9,011

31,314


2,700


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11,431

12,374

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O

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4,900 9,331

12,840
16,854

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
2,862
45,060


Discharges
per Service
13,204



N


H
J

Discharges per
submarket


All


13,521



Women and Infants

Vascular Surgery

Urology
D
E



Pulmonary
C
Otolaryngology
B
Other

Orthopedics

Neuroscience
Neonatology

Hem/Onc
Gastro

General Surgery
Cardiothoracic
Cardiology
Submarket
A
General Medicine
Market Share










2,029
13,965
3,689



13,180
5,425
2,308 38,598
In this sample, a large hospital has identified 15 distinct submarkets and 15 service lines. Displayed at a glance is the 4 year trend of
each service line across all submarkets and each submarket trend by service line. It is easy to identify cardiothoracic as a troubled
service line and submarket “K” is having difficulty in cardiothoracic, hem/onc, and women’s and infants. Note also that size of the
market is displayed by number of discharges. We have found these tables useful for committee planning as it condenses, in this example, 72 pages of detailed reports.
5
Emergency Department Projections
Visualizations are particularly useful for time service analyses. Viewed this way volume trends become readily apparent. This particular visualization was used as a part of an ED facility plan in order to better understand trends and peak loads. Stroudwater also correlated patient complaint volume with ED volume using this technique.
6
Staffing Projections
Stroudwater Associates has the ability to pull data specific to department volumes by shift, day of the month, and month. The graph
below illustrates a six month period only, however a longer time period will reveal trends that better inform projections and staffing
requirements. Trend and patterns become readily apparent when viewed in this format.
1
December
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
11-7
7-3
3-11
January
11-7
7-3
3-11
February
11-7
7-3
3-11
March
11-7
7-3
3-11
April
11-7
7-3
3-11
May
11-7
7-3
3-11
Sum of Count
1
5
10
15
Sum of Count
1-5
6-10
11-15
7
Visualization of hospital
data can yield critical
trends that impact planning
considerations, such as the
annual revenue contribution by physicians approaching retirement. This
graph illustrates the top
physicians for patient revenue for a given year. The
shape of the mark indicates
whether the physician is
active or consulting, and
the size and position of the
mark is related to the sum
of total revenue. Physician
age is represented along the
x-axis, and a reference line
for age 55 is added. The
color of the marks indicates
physician specialty.
Sum of Revenue
Physician Analysis
8
Ambulatory Planning and Site Selection
Stroudwater’s approach to ambulatory planning and site selection includes the use of spatial analysis software, which can model the
likely destination to healthcare facilities for potential populations. Using different scenarios, the analysis can help optimize the location of an ambulatory facility at a site where it is most accessible to the greatest number of potential healthcare users and least likely
to be impeded by competing facilities.
The geographic reach of the new site can then be used as a basis for informing utilization projections, modality selection, demographic trends, competitor analyses, and even marketing campaigns.
9
Ambulance Coverage
Spatial analysis helps anticipate
Emergency Department volumes by
defining the likely reach of hospital
ambulance services in the region.
10
Mapping Physicians
In dense urban areas identification of physicians by specialty and hospital affiliation can assist the hospital in ambulatory and hospital-physician integration strategies. The map below identifies locations of pediatricians within a delineated service area. The colored
dots indicate a hospital affiliation.
11