Within the Discussion Board area, write 400–600 words that respond to the following questions with your thoughts, ideas, and comments. This will be the foundation for future discussions by your classmates. Be substantive and clear, and use examples to reinforce your ideas.

There are many users, sources, and purposes for health care statistics. One of the significant sources of health care statistics is the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP, pronounced “H-Cup”). As the HCA, you mention this to your new CEO, but he says he is not familiar with it and asks you to put together a short description of it on how you and your colleagues make use of the data and information provided. You will prepare a 400–600-word description of HCUP for the CEO. Include the following in your description:

• 1–2-sentence introduction to HCUP, including the agency that administers the project and its purpose
• What types of data and reports are provided and who uses this resource.
• An example of a report available to anyone on the site
  • Go to the Reports tab on the Home page. Click on the tab, and then select “HCUP Statistical Briefs – Chronological List.” 
  • From the list, choose a recent brief (the most recent are listed first in the list). 
  • Open and review the brief, and describe what it contains and the types of health care statistics and graphical presentations included in it (e.g., line graphs or pie charts).
• Finish by including your thoughts about this Web resource and what you find valuable about it.