An Introduction to Data in the Health Care System

Catalog description

This course examines the broad topic of data and healthcare decisions, particularly how to be an astute consumer of data about health, the health care system, and health policy. To work in the health sector means facing a dizzying array of claims based on data with varying levels of quality. To be an informed consumer requires thinking critically about the claims being made, understanding what data are being presented, dissecting the claims, critiquing the methods carefully, and weighing the totality of the evidence to make informed decisions. Some topics of discussion include: 1) what is data? 2) how can we evaluate the quality of data 3) how can data be presently honestly and what are common pitfalls? 4) what is causality? 5) how to evaluate analytic methods, 6) how can data and results be presented visually and fairly? 7) how can a non-researcher understand research, and 8) how can one begin the transition from consumer to producer of data and research.