A Comprehensive Guide to SQL Case Statement in Healthcare

Image of doctors in active operation

A Comprehensive Guide to SQL Case Statement in Healthcare Industry

The SQL Case Statement is an essential feature of SQL that enables developers and data analysts to build conditional logic into their queries. By evaluating a set of conditions, the Case Statement returns a result that is based on the outcome of the evaluation. This functionality can be used to create complex, multi-level decision trees within a SQL query. With the Case Statement, data analysts can effectively analyze and extract specific data sets from vast data sources, making it an indispensable tool in the data analysis process. Overall, the SQL Case Statement is a powerful feature of SQL that provides developers and data analysts with greater flexibility and precision in their data analysis and decision-making capabilities.

Agenda

  1. Introduction to SQL Case Statement
  2. Types of SQL Case Statement with examples from the Healthcare Industry
  3. Real-World Example Questions in the Healthcare Industry
  4. Most Commonly Asked Interview Question and Answer
  5. Conclusion

Introduction to SQL Case Statement

SQL Case Statement is a conditional statement in SQL that returns a result based on the evaluation of a set of conditions. The Case Statement is used to implement conditional logic in SQL queries, making it a powerful tool for data analysis and decision-making.

Types of SQL Case Statement with Examples From The Healthcare Industry

Simple Case Statement

A Simple Case Statement is used to evaluate a single expression and return a corresponding result. For example, in the Healthcare Industry, you can use a Simple Case Statement to categorize patients based on their age.

SELECT 
  PatientID, 
  PatientName, 
  Age, 
  CASE 
    WHEN Age < 18 THEN 'Child' 
    WHEN Age BETWEEN 18 AND 64 THEN 'Adult' 
    ELSE 'Senior' 
  END AS PatientCategory 
FROM Patients; 

Searched Case Statement

A Searched Case Statement evaluates multiple conditions and returns a result based on the first matching condition. For example, in the Healthcare Industry, you can use a Searched Case Statement to calculate the co-pay amount for a patient based on their insurance plan.

SELECT 
  PatientID, 
  PatientName, 
  InsurancePlan, 
  CASE 
    WHEN InsurancePlan = 'Plan A' THEN 50 
    WHEN InsurancePlan = 'Plan B' THEN 40 
    ELSE 30 
  END AS CoPayAmount 
  FROM Patients; 

Nested Case Statement

A Nested Case Statement is used to evaluate multiple conditions within another Case Statement. For example, in the Healthcare Industry, you can use a Nested Case Statement to categorize patients based on their age and insurance plan.

SELECT 
  PatientID, 
  PatientName, 
  Age, 
  InsurancePlan, 
  CASE 
    WHEN Age < 18 THEN 'Child' 
    ELSE 
      CASE 
        WHEN InsurancePlan = 'Plan A' THEN 'Adult with Plan A' 
        WHEN InsurancePlan = 'Plan B' THEN 'Adult with Plan B' 
      ELSE 'Senior' 
    END 
  END AS PatientCategory 
FROM Patients; 

Real-World Example Questions in the Healthcare Industry

Script to generate tables and records needed for the real-world example questions:

CREATE TABLE Patients 
( 
  PatientID INT PRIMARY KEY, 
  PatientName VARCHAR(100), 
  Age INT, 
  InsurancePlan VARCHAR(100) 
); 
INSERT INTO Patients (PatientID, PatientName, Age, InsurancePlan) 
VALUES (1, 'John Doe', 35, 'Plan A'), (2, 'Jane Doe', 40, 'Plan B'), (3, 'John Smith', 50, 'Plan C'), (4, 'Jane Smith', 65, 'Plan A'), (5, 'Jim Brown', 25, 'Plan B'); 

1. What is the average age of patients with Plan A and Plan B insurance?

View Answer

2. What is the total number of patients for each insurance plan?

View Answer

3. List the patients and their age categories (Child, Adult with Plan A, Adult with Plan B, Senior) based on their age and insurance plan.

View Answer

Most Commonly Asked Interview Question and Answer

Q: How do you use the SQL Case Statement in a real-world scenario?

A: I have used the SQL Case Statement in several real-world projects, including in the Healthcare Industry. One specific example is when I was working on a project to categorize patients based on their age and insurance plan. To accomplish this, I used a Nested Case Statement that evaluated the patient’s age and insurance plan and returned the appropriate patient category. The final result was a table that displayed the patient’s information, including their age category, which was used for further analysis and decision-making. The use of the Case Statement made the process of categorizing patients much simpler and more efficient.

Conclusion

The SQL Case Statement is a versatile and powerful tool for data analysis and decision-making in SQL. With the different types of Case Statements, including Simple, Searched, and Nested, you can implement complex conditional logic and return results based on multiple evaluations. By using examples from the Healthcare Industry, you can see the practical applications of the Case Statement and how it can be used to improve your data analysis and decision-making processes.

Interested in a career in Data Analytics? Book a call with our admissions team or visit training.colaberry.com to learn more.

SQL Server Subqueries in the Healthcare Industry

woman at desk working on laptop on SQL

SQL Server Subqueries are a critical aspect of SQL that enables developers and data analysts to write nested queries within their primary query. By allowing for the creation of complex queries, SQL Server Subqueries provide developers with more significant control and flexibility in their data analysis. These subqueries can be used to perform various operations, such as calculating the average salary of employees in a specific department, retrieving the second-highest salary in a company, or even joining multiple tables to retrieve specific data sets. This functionality can help data analysts to efficiently retrieve, organize and analyze large amounts of data from multiple sources. Ultimately, SQL Server Subqueries are an indispensable tool in the SQL language, providing developers and data analysts with the power and flexibility to handle complex data sets and perform precise, efficient data analysis.

Agenda

  1. Introduction to SQL Server Subqueries
  2. Different Concept Types with Industry Examples and Coding Examples
  3. Real-World Example Questions in the Healthcare Industry
  4. Most Commonly Asked Interview Question
  5. Conclusion

Introduction to SQL Server Subqueries

SQL Server Subqueries are a fundamental component of SQL. They allow you to write nested queries within your main query. They can be used to perform complex operations, such as finding the average salary of employees in a specific department or finding the second-highest salary in a company.

Different Concept Types with Industry Examples and Coding Examples:

Different Concept Types with Industry Examples and Coding Examples

Simple Subqueries

A simple subquery is a query within a query. It returns a single value, and it is used to solve a specific problem.

Example Question:
Find the department with the highest average salary in a healthcare company.

Coding Example:

SELECT
    department, AVG(salary)
FROM
    employees
GROUP BY
    department
HAVING
    AVG(salary) = (SELECT MAX(AVG(salary))
                   FROM employees
                   GROUP BY department)

Explanation:
In this example, the main query groups the employees by department and calculates the average salary for each department. The subquery inside the HAVING clause returns the maximum average salary. The main query then only returns departments with the highest average salary, which is the result of the subquery.

Correlated Subqueries

A correlated subquery is a subquery that depends on the values from the main query. It returns a set of values, and it is used to compare values between the main query and the subquery.

Example Question:
Find the names of employees who earn more than the average salary of their department in a healthcare company.

Coding Example:

SELECT
    name, salary, department
FROM
    employees e1
WHERE
    salary > (SELECT AVG(salary)
              FROM employees e2
              WHERE e1.department = e2.department)

Explanation:
In this example, the main query returns the name, salary, and department of all employees. The subquery inside the WHERE clause returns the average salary for each department. The main query then only returns the names and salaries of employees who earn more than the average salary of their department, which is the result of the subquery.

Multi-level Subqueries

A multi-level subquery is a subquery within a subquery. It is used to perform complex operations, such as finding the second-highest salary in a company.

Example Question:
Find the second-highest salary in a healthcare company.

Coding Example:

SELECT
    MAX(salary)
FROM
    employees
WHERE
    salary < (SELECT MAX(salary) FROM employees)

Explanation:
In this example, the subquery inside the WHERE clause returns the highest salary in the company. The main query then returns the second highest salary, which is the maximum salary that is less than the highest salary.

Real-World Example Questions in the Healthcare Industry

Script to generate tables and records:

-- Create Patients table
CREATE TABLE Patients (
  PatientID INT PRIMARY KEY,
  Name VARCHAR(50),
  VisitDate DATE
);

-- Insert records into Patients table
INSERT INTO Patients (PatientID, Name, VisitDate)
VALUES
(1, 'John Doe', '2022-01-01'),
(2, 'Jane Doe', '2022-01-15'),
(3, 'Jim Smith', '2022-02-01'),
(4, 'Jane Smith', '2022-02-15'),
(5, 'John Brown', '2022-03-01'),
(6, 'Jane Brown', '2022-03-15'),
(7, 'Jim Wilson', '2022-04-01'),
(8, 'Jane Wilson', '2022-04-15');

-- Create Treatments table
CREATE TABLE Treatments (
  TreatmentID INT PRIMARY KEY,
  PatientID INT,
  Cost MONEY,
  FOREIGN KEY (PatientID) REFERENCES Patients (PatientID)
);

-- Insert records into Treatments table
INSERT INTO Treatments (TreatmentID, PatientID, Cost)
VALUES
(1, 1, 100.00),
(2, 1, 200.00),
(3, 2, 150.00),
(4, 3, 125.00),
(5, 4, 175.00),
(6, 5, 225.00),
(7, 6, 200.00),
(8, 7, 175.00),
(9, 8, 150.00);
  

1. What is the total number of patients visited for each month in 2022, in the “Patients” table?

View Answer

2. What is the average cost of treatments for patients who visited the hospital in 2022, in the “Patients” and “Treatments” tables?

View Answer

3. How many patients have visited the hospital more than once in 2022, in the “Patients” table?

View Answer

Most Commonly Asked Interview Question and Answer in SQL Server

Q: What is a subquery in SQL Server and how have you used it in a previous project?

A: subquery in SQL Server is a query within another query. It returns a result set that can be used as input to the main query. I have used subqueries in a previous project to find the average cost of treatments for each patient, based on the total number of treatments they have received. To do this, I created a subquery to find the total cost of treatments for each patient and then used that result set as an input to the main query to find the average cost.

SELECT AVG(TotalCost) AS AverageCost
FROM (
  SELECT PatientID, SUM(Cost) AS TotalCost
  FROM Treatments
  GROUP BY PatientID
) AS Subquery

Conclusion

In this blog, we have discussed the different types of SQL Server subqueries and provided examples from the healthcare industry. We have also posted three real-world example questions, along with the script to generate the tables and records needed to answer them. Finally, we have answered the most commonly asked interview question about subqueries and provided a concrete example from a previous project.

Interested in a career in Data Analytics? Book a call with our admissions team or visit training.colaberry.com to learn more.