The notion of public health has now become closely associated with the demonstration of relevant statistical data. According to the research, the primary importance of statistics disclosure concerns the demand for quantitative justification of scholarly considerations (Hebl, 2003). When looking at healthcare statistics from a diachronic perspective, it becomes evident that the most notorious and explicit use of such data traces back to Florence Nightingale’s intention to reform British military healthcare (Feinleib, n.d.). With the help of collecting relevant data on causal factors of death in the military, she tried to identify tangible solutions for the issue. Later, in 1946, when the Centers for Disease Control (CDC, 2018) was established, the organization decided to apply the statistics calculation methods to the paradigm of US health care, establishing a starting point for public health genesis and further development.
There are various examples of how statistics change the patterns of health care practices. For example, when the Epi Info, a statistics-oriented computer program, was developed in the 1980s by the CDC (2019), epidemiologists across the state were able to record data in a way that guaranteed a more rapid and efficient response by health care. Moreover, the introduction of electronic health records (EHR) systems contributed to the development of an explicit ecosystem of statistical data that provides both practitioners and public bodies with relevant healthcare precedents encouraging immediate response (Sharples, 2018). Thus, it may be concluded that the introduction of statistics to the field of health care resulted in a dramatic change in terms of approaching public health, treatment, and the genesis of epidemiology. Moreover, statistical data presented by such organizations as CDC and WHO provides residents with a new perspective on their health and habits.
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2018). Our history. Web.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2019). Epi Info. Web.
Feinleib, M. (n.d.). History statistics. Web.
Hebl, M. (2003). Importance of statistics. In Introduction to statistics: An interactive e-book (Rice University). Web.
Sharples, L. D. (2018). The role of statistics in the era of big data: Electronic health records for healthcare research. Statistics & Probability Letters, 136, 105-110. Web.