I conducted a deep-dive analysis of CLABSI using CMS and AHRQ data, created national and territorial visualizations, and compared PSI-07 performance across states. I discovered that Puerto Rico shows marked disparities (higher comorbidity burdens, limited reporting, and more facilities performing significantly worse than the national benchmark) revealing significant gaps in surveillance and patient-safety infrastructure.

Competencies developed:
3.2e – Challenge biases and preferences that influence decisions, judgments, or behaviors and barriers that impact population health outcomes.
5.1i – Establish and incorporate data driven benchmarks to monitor system performance.
5.2g – Evaluate the alignment of system data and comparative patient safety benchmarks.
7.2g – Analyze relevant internal and external factors that drive healthcare costs and reimbursement.

Explanation:
This project takes a national patient-safety indicator, CLABSI rates, and drills into where the data reveals a hidden disparity, so it's really a quality and safety deep dive. Comparing state-by-state CLABSI rates against the national benchmark is a direct example of evaluating system data against safety benchmarks (5.2g), and pulling in CMS and AHRQ data to establish those comparisons shows using data-driven benchmarks to monitor system performance (5.1i). Because Puerto Rico stands out with far higher rates, sparse reporting, and unique comorbidity burdens, the project also surfaces a disparity tied to structural and research gaps, which reflects challenging the barriers behind population health outcomes (3.2e). And since CLABSI is tied directly to added hospital costs, referencing the cost data from AHRQ's HAC report ties this to analyzing the internal and external factors driving healthcare costs (7.2g).

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