The use of epidemiology in decision making by hospital executives.

The study has shown that epidemiological data are not used as often as they should be. The results suggest that education level has an impact on the use of epidemiology in long-term and short-term decision making. The higher the education level, the more use of epidemiology is suggested. Individuals with an MPH (Master's of Public Health) degree used epidemiological data on a higher frequency than did their peers. A possible suggestion as to why this occurs is that those individuals who had an MPH more than likely have had a course in epidemiology and understand how to utilize it. Of the individuals who did not use epidemiology, 98.7 percent attributed that to either cost or language that was unfamiliar to them. Of these individuals, 65.8 percent said they would be interested in learning more about epidemiology, and 64.5 percent said they would use it if they were more familiar. A need for instruction in epidemiology was revealed by this survey. Epidemiology should be used to perform studies on the regional population to identify the needs of the hospital's consumers. Without the knowledge base, this is not being done; possible continuing education for administrators covering the uses of epidemiology could work toward correcting the problem.