Dissemination of Health Reports: A Hybrid (fat & thin) Solution

Transcription

1 Dissemination of Health Reports: A Hybrid (fat & thin) Solution Allison Low, Intrawares Pty Ltd Abstract A reporting system using a hybrid solution of both "fat" and "thin" clients will be examined: 1) The advantages of using a "fat" client SAS/AF based application for high-end users such as data analysts wishing to use The SAS Institute s advanced analytical tools such as SAS/Insight 2) The advantages of using a "thin" client web based solution for easy distribution of reports to geographically dispersed health services. Fat, Thin or Both? Dissemination of Government Health statistics in NSW, Australia is regularly mediated by the old print and paper method. However, in recent times electronic distribution has either accompanied the paper version or replaced it altogether. The electronic version (distributed on floppy disk or Cdrom) may have consisted of a combination of the following types: a pdf file, a flatfile, or an SAS/AF application. One major limitation of releasing an electronic report in this way is high cost. Also for some Health statistics that are distributed, the most up-todate information would be preferred. A limitation of the current method is that information is outdated before it reaches the recipient. Fortunately now, due to the increasing accessibility to the internet by the recipients of Health information, organisations can take advantage of this medium. The latest Health Statistics Information no longer needs to be outdated information. The types of media best used to distribute Health reports depend ultimately on what purpose this information serves.

2 Below is a check list that I have devised that will assist in deciding which reporting media would be most appropriate for each purpose: Thin (Web application) á Recipients of statistics are geographically dispersed. A web based client involves almost no additional configuration á Analytical tools such as SAS/Insight are not required á An evolving application where queries and/or interface change over time is required for a large group of recipients á Underlying application data will change either periodically or constantly Fat (SAS/AF application) á Availability of the analytical tools e.g. SAS/Insight (see Diagram 1 below) to assist data analysts are required á A complex query interface and/or complex queries are required á A fast application development is required for a very small group of recipients á Underlying application data will never change Diagram 1: Illustration of SAS/Insight

3 For some statistics and reports one of the two application types may be appropriate, however taking advantage of both types in a hybrid solution may be the optimal method. A Hybrid Solution: an example Disseminated information: Purpose: Solution: Hospital patient statistics 1. Allow policy analysts and epidemiologists (that would normally be located within the same building) to analyse the data with sophistication, ease, and efficiency 2. Allow each hospital (that are geographically dispersed) to conduct some simple analysis on their data 1. A SAS/AF application would be optimal for in-depth analysis, particularly where recipients are geographically proximal 2. A Web based application (see Diagram 2 below) would be optimal for geographically distant recipients wishing to carry out simple statistics involving filtering or summary techniques. Diagram 2: Illustration of a web based application query screen

4 A thin solution web application can be an overkill and an unnecessary expense if the purpose of information dissemination does not require any ad-hoc analysis. For example publishing static information on the web is a good alternative to the print and paper publication that traditionally was distributed by surface/air mail. As an alternative to a print and paper version, organisations may want to consider simply publishing the publication on the internet or intranet for the following reasons: ½ Distribution of the report via the net means removing the need for: distribution via mailing, costly media (such as floppy disk, CDrom etc.), time and money spent transferring information onto media. The cost of internet applications are relatively fixed regardless of the number of users. ½ Dissemination of information is faster. The traditional mail can take from 2 10 days depending on the destination. Loading a publication onto the internet/intranet can take only minutes. ½ Using the SAS Institute s web publishing tools means a seamless automated analysis and publishing process. The old print and paper method would entail producing the summarised information in SAS and then this information would be incorporated by OLE, pasting, or populating table templates in a specialist publishing software package used for laying out the publication ½ Any post-release fixes to the publication can be easily and cheaply carried out. ½ The recipient can search and print only information of interest and as required which means for the environmentally conscious less paper used unnecessarily. At present, not everyone has internet/intranet access and not everyone prefers electronic media. To address this, both the old and the new publishing methods could be used. Below are the methods that may be used in achieving this solution: Chart 1: Utilising SAS software to develop a streamlined publishing solution Analysis and Summarise using SAS New Media Load onto web Produce output as html output using the SAS web publishing tools (see Diagram3) Old Media Convert output into excel Embed Excel tables into the print and Paper publication file (generated by e.g. Adobe Pagemaker)

5 Diagram 3: A basic SAS html output achieved using the SAS Institute s web publishing tools Note: Dummy data Conclusion In conclusion there are advantages and limitations to every method of electronic information dissemination. The types of media best used to distribute Health reports depend ultimately on what purpose this information serves. If the information to be disseminated has a varying purpose for different types of recipients, then consider a hybrid solution. allison_low@intrawares.com Author: Allison Low has worked extensively with datamarts, data preparation and reporting. More recently Allison has worked with the SAS Institutes s web publishing tools and webenablement technologies.

6 SAS/Intrnet, SAS/AF, SAS, SAS/Insight are registered trademarks of SAS Institute. Microsoft Excel is a registered trademark of Microsoft. Pagemaker is a registered trademark of Adobe.