Finding the Efficiencies in Medicine: An Analysis of Medical Quality Versus Cost With Respect to Knee Replacement Episodes

Abstract

The American healthcare system presents many uncertainties. Through health analytics, such issues can be alleviated and sometimes eliminated. The analytical approach is a necessity and is becoming readily available because of the massive amounts of data collected from health groups such as Cedar Gate Technologies. In order to better grasp the inefficiencies present in the system, a technical approach must and has been attempted. This paper strives to link patient attributes and ailments to procedures and quantifiable success rates to evaluate physicians on their performance and procedure pathway choices while also lessening the financial burden on the consumer. Measuring the efficacy of the doctors with regard to cost management and success rate, this approach will use analytical models, developed from pre-­‐existing data collected and obtained by Cedar Gate Technologies and coded in VBA, R, and Gephi. The result of which should be more optimal health diagnoses, swifter decision-­‐making, and decreased expenses for the hospital, physician, and patient. If/when certain foreseeable limitations such a sparse matrices and clustering can be overcome, this paper will serve as a beneficial roadmap for more affordable healthcare.