International Institute for Analytics

Visualization techniques enable users to overcome the tedious activity of examining detailed data corresponding to functional areas and provides them with an easy to comprehend view of performance attributes, providing timely decision support from digital resources. However, despite the advantage of robust graphics, visualization often suffers from a major limitation. As users consume information from visual platforms, they often take the next step in the decision support process, which entails inquiring as to what the factors or variables are that drive performance metrics. In other words, what is causing KPIs to move? In statistical terms, performance metrics are dependent or target variables and users quickly seek to understand the driver or independent variables that affect dependent variables.

This brief describes research that is currently being conducted to identify three different types of errors in:

1. Medical diagnosis
2. Medication administration
3. Use of electronic health records (EHRs)