Background

• Synthetic Healthcare Database for Research (SyH-DR):

  • All-payer nationally representative claims database from 2016

  • Samples of inpatient, outpatient, and prescription drug claims

  • Covers patients insured by commercial, Medicaid, or Medicare health insurance

  • Information is synthetic but replicates the structural/statistical properties of original data to protect patient privacy

• Notes:

  • AHRQ APCD Information

Project Goals

1. Gain access to SyH-DR data through application process

2. Develop a program that maps symptoms or diagnoses to common medications prescribed

3. Create in-class labs and homework assignments for BIOL 1555 focused on SyH-DR exploration

Initial Expectations

• Obtain data within 1-2 weeks

• Spend the bulk of the semester on data exploration

• Examine differences between inpatient and outpatient data

• Compare treatments across commercial, Medicaid, and Medicare insurance

Obstacles

• Slow application process for data access

• High memory requirements necessitating the use of Oscar cluster

• Lack of Linux instructions for setup

• Difficulty with VSCode Jupyter notebook connection (CCV)

• Learning curve with an unfamiliar coding language (Julia)

• High repetition of patient data in the database

Achievements

• Successfully downloaded SyH-DR data

• Currently mapping diagnoses to medications

• In the process of creating assignments for BIOL 1555

• Notes:

  • Creating documentation

  • Project shifted to be more focused over winter break

Takeaways

• Timelines often do not align with initial expectations

• It is crucial to prepare for productive work periods during waiting times

• Consult with data sources for assistance

• Emphasize the importance of documentation throughout the project