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Data Source
Alberta Health Services
Organizer
Dr. Jeffrey Bakal, Dr. Eddy Lang, and Dr. Chel Hee Lee


Study Challenges 

Long waiting time has been addressed as a primary concern of patients, families, and healthcare providers. Waiting for 3-4 hours in the emergency department (ED) is average. Waiting times are a crucial component of quality of care and are a major preoccupation of Albertans and Canadians. Data is drawn from the 16 busiest emergency departments in Alberta, including measures which are critical and inform our acute care system's previous, current and future state. The topic for 2023 is an in-depth exploration of operational metrics to provide better care by understanding the complexities of patient flow in ED.
 

Research Question


We are open to various challenges that you choose. If you are unsure whether your research question(s) would meet the competition, please consult with Dr. Eddy Lang or Dr. Chel Hee Lee. 

 

Variables


Download Data Dictionary (2023-FEB-01).
You are allowed to utilize any measures available from public resources.  

 

Data Access


ED charts for this competition are the samples the Alberta Health Services provided for educational purposes. Patients whose age is greater than 90 are excluded. The triage start time is set by time origin as 00:00:00. You may see negative time stamps if any actions occurred before triage. Any unavailable measurements are noted as blank.

To obtain this data, you need to make a team registration with a faculty mentor and express participation in the competition to the chair, Dr. Chel Hee Lee <chelhee.lee@ucalgary.ca>. You will be then be asked to fill out the confidentiality form. Once the form is submitted and approved by Dr. Lee, you will be guided to contact Dr. Bakal for direct data transfer.  

Note that the competition data are not allowed for other purposes except preparing this case study presentation. Once the competition is completed, all your team members, including faculty mentors, should inform the chair via email that the data are removed from your working computer and that there is no backup. 

Evaluation & Grading Points
Your case study report and poster must include:
1.    The research question(s) you sought to address with your analysis.
2.    A discussion on the impact of your assumptions and parameters and the limitations of these types of models.
3.    At least one visualization needs to be included.
4.    A summary of the key takeaways from your analysis.

Each team should design a poster that evaluates their research question(s), and present their results for approximately 10 minutes (plus an additional 8-10 minutes for discussion). The case study competition will be evaluated as follows:

1.    Creative visualizations of the data (20%)
2.    Thoughtfully curated input data for the given research question (10%)
3.    Appropriateness, creativity, and understanding of the strengths and limitations of the model proposed (50%)
4.    Quality and clarity of presentation (20%)

Organizer Contact Information 
Any concerns and questions are most welcome to: eddy.lang@ahs.ca or chelhee.lee@ahs.ca.

Acknowledgments
This case study was prepared by Dr. Jeffrey Bakal, Dr. Eddy Lang, and Dr. Chel Hee Lee, with help and guidance from the other case study committee members of the Statistical Society of Canada. In addition, we thank Bing Li for data compilation and deidentification and appreciate Professor Stacey Page, Chair of the Conjoint Health Research Ethics, for ethics consultation and review.

Award
We are pleased to announce that an award of $1,000 will be given to the winning team by the Department of Emergency Medicine, Alberta Health Services & University of Calgary.  
 

References

Elalouf, A., Wachtel, G. Queueing Problems in Emergency Departments : A Review of Practical Approaches and Research Methodologies. Oper. Res. Forum 3, 2 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43069-021-00114-8
Institut canadien d’information sur la santé, Understanding Emergency Department Wait Times: Access to Inpatient Beds and Patient Flow (Ottawa : ICIS, 2007)