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Qualitative Analysis
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Quantitative Analysis
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Qualitative analysis is a review of medical
record entries for inconsistencies and omissions which may signify that the
medical record is inaccurate or incomplete. Such an analysis
requires a knowledge
of medical terminology, anatomy and physiology, fundamentals of disease
processes, medical record content, and the standards of licensing,
accrediting, and certifying agencies. It is usually performed by a qualified
medical record practitioner.
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Quantitative Analysis is a review of prescribed
areas of the medical record for identifying specific deficiencies in
recording to ensure that it is complete, accurate, and current. Items that do
not meet the criteria should be noted on a check-off sheet for future review
and processing by the responsible staff–medical, dental, nursing, and allied
health providers.
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The outcome of
qualitative analysis depends on how the researcher wants to approach the
analysis. He may decide, for instance, to concentrate on the quality of care
given to patients or the age bracket of patients treated in a given period.
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The outcome in
quantitative analysis depends purely on the provided information. For
instance, if you want to find out how many patients received treatment in the
hospital for malaria in a certain year, the result is constant because it is
based on numbers.
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The collection of information during qualitative research is not
seldom based on unstructured or semi-structured, but methodologically
flexible techniques, e.g. individual depth interviews or group discussions,
that are suited to elicit great detail and a comprehensive view
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Unlike qualitative research, which allows unlimited expression from
respondents, quantitative research relies responses to pre-formulated
questions. Quantitative research uses highly structured, rigid techniques
such as online questionnaires, on-street or telephone interviews.
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During qualitative method
of analysis information is described through descriptive means. For example a
nurse analyzing medical records, for instance, can investigate the medical
condition of a certain group of patients and then analyze how they responded
to the treatment.
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In quantitative analysis,
information is retrieved in numerical form. The nurse may use the functional
Independence measure when collecting information about patients’ functional
abilities during their stay in hospital.
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This type of research is
usually subjective to the group, which means the person collecting the
information interprets it according to what he wants to focus on. Qualitative
research can be performed on an individual or several groups.
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The information is
collected using objective measurements and diagnostic equipments. This
analysis is objective and it is performed on a large number of patients for
the results to be credible.
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