Welcome

What are you trying to do?

Something I need to watch regularly in hospitals and health facilities.

Before you start. Monitors currently run from the command line rather than from a page. The engine works and is tested; the interface for setting them up is still being built, so this route is the least finished of the four.

Your path

Create the study

One study holds the whole series.

Chart it before you judge it

A control chart separates ordinary variation from a real change. Most month-to-month movement is noise, and acting on it makes a process less stable rather than more.

Set up a monitor

A saved analysis with a cadence. It re-runs and reports what moved, without claiming the movement is significant - two consecutive estimates are not independent samples.

Read the series, not the last point

Twelve points tell you what one never can.

What people in your field ask

In hospitals and health facilitiesthe full guide

Decide what you are managing - pull the routine data you already hold - chart it over time - compare where it differs - act, then chart again.

Is our waiting time getting worse, or is this just a bad week?control chart
Can we consistently meet the target we have been given?process capability
Do outcomes differ between wards, units or consultants?one way anova
Which patients are at risk of readmission?logistic regression
How long do patients stay, and what shortens it?kaplan meier

Watch for: Comparing raw outcome rates between units without case mix. The unit that takes the sickest patients will always look worst.

Create your first study The full guide for hospitals and health facilities Start again