Presentation Archive

November

Pandemic Effects on Health Care Use by Condition in 2020: Jason Flindall & Samantha Magnus, BC Ministry of Health

While it is inarguable that the direct effects of COVID-19 can be deadly, the indirect effects from efforts to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 are less well known. Research has suggested that health care avoidance, especially during the early days of the pandemic, may have resulted in delayed diagnoses and treatments. Likewise, prolonged closures of businesses and public spaces may restrict a person's access to physical activity and/or increase their risk of developing mental health disorders such as chronic anxiety or depression. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the direct and indirect effects that the COVID-19 pandemic – and our response to it – has had on the health care utilization behaviour of B.C.'s ~5 million residents. We use ICD9 and ICD10-CA codes, drawn from B.C. MoH administrative records, to compare monthly encounter rates for 200+ health conditions to ARIMA-generated forecasts. Health condition groups are defined according to CIHI's Population Grouper methodology. 

Health Quality Council of Alberta (HQCA) COVID-19 Dashboard: Jody Pow, HQCA

The Health Quality Council of Alberta's (HQCA) Primary Care Panel Reports have become a staple of quality improvement efforts for family physicians, paediatricians, and nurse practitioners over the past decade. In this presentation, the HQCA will describe the genesis, evolution, and future of the Primary Care Panel Reports with a focus on the use of Visual Analytics to report back to primary care providers on their patients' COVID-19 vaccination status.

April

Using Data Visualization to Provide Insights - Alberta Health: Health Economic & Funding Branch's Experience: George Danso & Nirosha Gunasekara, Alberta Health

Alberta Health (AH) has incorporated data visualization in a variety of projects to ensure key information is provided to decision-makers in a timely and easy to understand manner. In this presentation, the Health Economics and Funding Branch at AH will share their experience in working with SAS Visual Analytics to inform others. They will also showcase a few real visualization projects and highlight what worked well and what did not work well.

The Analytics Lifecycle Toolkit: Dario Medina, McMaster University

Introduction to fundamental concepts and practices of the analytics life cycle as described in the Book “The Analytics Lifecycle Toolkit: A Practical Guide for an Effective Analytics Capability”

Applications: Business analysis in Financial Industry and Teaching

October

Introduction to Virtual Health User Group and Welcome: Harsh Vardhan, SAS Canada & Walkie Aktary, HQCA

Data Safe Haven: Ryan Burg, Alberta Health

The Province of Alberta maintains a large set of robust health data assets, and the use of these is fundamental for ensuring a high performing health system for Albertans. Alberta Health (AH) and Alberta Health Services (AHS) are responsible for creating and managing a significant proportion of health data in Alberta and both manage large, sophisticated data warehouse environments. The Strengthening Health Analytics In Alberta Project will develop provincial health analytic strategy and associated implementation plans aimed at fully maximizing the benefit of Alberta’s health data assets. For this short presentation, Ryan will go over the future plans for Alberta Health and the different phases of the Strengthening Health Analytics in Alberta project.

Case Definition Macro for Administrative Health Data: Doug Dover, Canadian VIGOUR Centre

Administrative health data -- hospital discharge data, emergency department visits, physician claims -- provide a rich source of population health data. Their use however, can be quite nuanced. Case definitions are often used to determine "real" cases of disease, and these case definitions can be quite complex. For example, atrial fibrillation could be defined as one emergency department visit, one hospital discharge, or two physician claims at least 30 days apart within a two year period. I provide a SAS macro that can accommodate these various types of case definition relatively efficiently.