Statistical Methods and Data Core

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT: Statistical Methods and Data Core The Statistical Methods and Data Core will provide technical expertise in data and analysis and develop new methods to describe relationships among health care delivery organizations. By consolidating key functions, the Core will enable more efficient and rigorous analyses across Projects. Members of the Core will also serve

as investigators on individual projects, facilitating intellectual cross-pollination. A key function of the Core is to coordinate data tasks across the numerous large and complex data sets. A second key function of the Core is to coordinate analysis tasks. Finally, the Core will develop and apply novel

methods to map the oncology care delivery network, characterize its features, and study how network features, integration, and outcomes co-evolve over time. The Statistical Core complements and supports the aims of the Projects by aiming to: Aim 1: Provide data management expertise and coordination.

Acquire, prepare, integrate, manage, secure, and archive data; advise on data use and quality. Aim 2: Coordinate analytic tasks and provide statistical expertise. Identify organizations and sites to sample; code common variables to be used in all Projects; provide statistical expertise on common issues, including missing data, model specification,

and sensitivity analyses; perform cross-project analyses. Aim 3: Develop and apply novel methods for network analyses of health care delivery. Build a network of the cancer care delivery system, characterize its features, and develop and integrate novel network measures into Project analyses. This Program Project’s unique combination of depth (each Project having specific expertise about their

provider organization types) and breadth (the Statistical Core mapping the whole network) provides unprecedented opportunities to synthesize knowledge and advance our understanding of integration in the oncology care delivery system. The Statistical Core is poised as a key coordination and synthesis hub. For

instance, the Statistical Core will construct sampling frames for the Projects to survey provider organizations, and the Projects will provide the Statistical Core with definitions of forms of integration to inform claims-based measures. The Statistical Core will operationalize quality measures in administrative data, and the Projects will

study how these relate to integration in their specific segments of the delivery system. Our team is uniquely positioned to achieve the dual goals of conducting original methodological research and supporting the Projects scientifically and technically. The Statistical Core investigators have experience

working with claims data, expertise in cancer care delivery, and creativity in novel methods development.