1. What is health care analytics? A) The use of data analysis to improve health care administration and patient care. B) The use of data analysis to reduce operation costs and improve efficiency. C) The use of data analysis to produce actionable insights, improve decision making, and optimize outcomes within the health care industry. D) The use of data analysis to identify past trends and project future outcomes. Answer: C. Health care analytics is a subset of data analytics that uses both historic and current data to produce actionable insights, improve decision making, and optimize outcomes within the health care industry. Health care analytics is not only used to benefit health care organizations but also to improve the patient experience and health outcomes. 2. What are the four main categories of healthcare analytics? A) Descriptive, diagnostic, predictive, prescriptive B) Descriptive, inferential, predictive, prescriptive C) Descriptive, diagnostic, inferential, prescriptive D) Descriptive, inferential, predictive, causal Answer: A. Descriptive, diagnostic, predictive, prescriptive. Descriptive analytics allows us to understand what happened historically, diagnostic analytics allows us to understand why it happened, predictive analytics allows us to project what will happen in the future, and prescriptive analytics allows us to recommend what should happen. 3. What is an example of predictive analytics in health care? A) Identifying a patient’s risk for developing a health condition B) Investigating the reasons for patients leaving home therapy C) Recommending a treatment plan for a patient based on historical data D) Tracking the average bone mineral metabolism values for a patient population Answer: A. Identifying a patient’s risk for developing a health condition. Predictive analytics is the use of historical data to identify past trends and project associated future outcomes. In the health care industry, predictive analytics has many impactful uses, such as identifying a patient’s risk for developing a health condition, streamlining treatment courses, and reducing a hospital’s number of 30-day readmissions. 4. What is an example of prescriptive analytics in health care? A) Identifying a patient’s risk for developing a health condition B) Investigating the reasons for patients leaving home therapy C) Recommending a treatment plan for a patient based on historical data D) Tracking the average bone mineral metabolism values for a patient population Answer: C. Recommending a treatment plan for a patient based on historical data. Prescriptive analytics is the use of historical data to identify an appropriate course of action. In the health care industry, prescriptive analytics is used to both direct business decisions and to literally prescribe treatment plans for patients.