Statistics are a crucial part of the healthcare industry because gathering information is essential for qualified and safe healthcare. The data collected often helps in bettering the medical treatment of people with deteriorating health. Statistical data is commonly used as a tool of development; medical workers look at the information and apply it to their guidance. The success of a particular treatment may rely solely on statistical knowledge. It is involved in every part of healthcare, and its input cannot be overlooked in the quality and safety of treatment as well as health promotion and leadership.
The application of statistics in healthcare cannot be overlooked because it significantly improves the quality of medical services. For example, when one looks at the cancer treatment and survivorship statistics of 2019, one can quickly notice that there was a positive dynamic in the patients who survived cancer. Throughout the United States of 2019, there are more survivors than any year before. Every three years, the American Cancer Society collaborates with the National Cancer Institute to estimate the vital statistics (Miller et al., 2019). Furthermore, medics determine better treatment patterns based on the information in the survey.
If one looks closely at the presented information, the best methods to cure cancer in the early stages, and the most common treatment are radiation therapy, surgery, and chemotherapy. It proves to be extremely useful for people who are in the early stages of cancer. The percentage of survivors is about 70-80%, although it becomes lower as the disease spreads (Miller et al., 2019). The better strategy to battle this illness is chemotherapy, although it can cause such side effects as complete hair loss and tumor appearance. Therefore, because of the appropriate survey, people can get effective methods of battling this illness. It improves the quality of overall patient care because medical workers know what can increase the percentage of survivors and what can cause the death of the patient.
Moreover, if to speak about the safety of a chosen method of treatment, statistics helped improving past unsafe practices that caused the majority of deaths in the United States and worldwide. For example, the past years’ statistics contributed to determining the exact reasons behind the high child and women mortality during birth and pregnancies (World Health Organization, 2016). Therefore, listening to the surveys, medical workers made the whole experience of pregnancy safer than ever. According to the statistics, nine out of ten women in the United States take the appropriate medication during pregnancy (World Health Organization, 2016). However, the same statistic informs the reader that some remedy could be harmful to the future mother and the baby. National surveys help to determine whether the medication can be considered safe for the pregnant lady.
Furthermore, statistics can also be applied to health promotion because it is a reliable source of knowledge regarding substance abuse, nutrition, and obesity trends in America. Therefore, a medical worker can have a better understanding of the health risks a particular person possesses. It demonstrates the influence of a lifestyle on a person and helps to pick the better strategy regarding community health. Additionally, statistics improve overall awareness concerning sexual diseases, aiding in avoiding them (World Health Organization, 2016). Therefore, with the help of statistical information, young people know about safe sex and health risk concerning substance abuse, promoting overall health worldwide. The more people know about the problem, the less it would be spread in the years to come.
Data generation became an essential part of science, especially when it comes to healthcare. To better the results of various health surveys, robust statistical leadership is also needed (Gibson, 2019). It requires efficient communication methods between multidisciplinary teams to use data to predict outcomes or support a specific decision. Data research improves the leadership of the interdisciplinary teams through a collaborative partnership (Gibson, 2019). Statisticians should be able to share their ideas clearly and persuasively, and they also have to be leaders beyond their organizations.
If to speak about my specialty area, statistical data plays a crucial role in determining people with risks of deteriorating conditions and people who should be treated with high amounts of care. I tend to use statistical information while examining the patient. For example, as written earlier, patients with substance abuse are at higher risk of developing cancer and, therefore, they should be treated differently. They should be checked for the new diseases in order to prevent hazards. Moreover, if the nurse uses statistical data carefully, it can improve overall customer satisfaction and reduce the initial medical expenses. For example, if one patient is coughing, it is statistically likely to be contagious. Therefore, a medical worker must be extra careful around that patient because they can also develop the same symptoms as the patient.
To conclude, healthcare cannot exist without statistics because it is an essential part of medical science. The data collected by the statisticians better the overall patient care reduces medical expenses and helps prevent unnecessary deaths among patients. Statistical data is an excellent tool of development healthcare, and its input in the quality and safety of treatment and health promotion and leadership is significant. Without statistical information, medical science would suffer immensely.
References
Gibson, E.W. (2019). Leadership in Statistics: Increasing Our Value and Visibility. The American Statistician, 73(2), 109-116. Web.
Miller, K.D., Nogueira, L., Mariotto, A.B., Rowland, J.H., Yabroff, K.R., Alfano, C.M., Jemal, A., Kramer, J.L. & Siegel, R.L. (2019). Cancer treatment and survivorship statistics, 2019. ACS Journals, 69(5), 363-385. Web.
World Health Organization. (2016). World Health Statistics 2016: monitoring health for the SDGs Sustainable Development Goals. World Health Organization.