Listers,
I'm hoping for some insight into a solution to the following
programming problem.
For 170k patients (ID), I have the dates they filled prescriptions
(-filldate-) and the number of -days- each prescription covers (eg,
the number of daily pills):
ID filldate days
1 10JAN01 30
1 20FEB01 14
1 03MAR01 45
1 05MAY01 30
.
.
2 etc
2
2
.
.
.
The problem is that I need to figure how many total -days- they
are covered out of each 90 day quarter. So in the above, the first
patient starts on 10JAN01, so the first 90 day quarter ends on
10APR01. That means I need to break the 3rd record (03MAR01) into
two records, 38 days for the first quarter and 7 days for the second
quarter. I have to do this for all four 90 day quarters starting
10JAN01, and I have to do for every patient (and they all have
different start dates).
What I'd like to do is insert a new record at the start of each
quarter UNLESS they already have a record for that date. Then
the last -filldate- for each quarter would be split to form the
new record.
However, all of my attempts end up looking hopelessly complex
and hence unreliable, and as I so often discover elegant solutions
on this list I thought I'd fish for one here. Any ideas would
be welcome.
cheers,
Jeph
--
Jeph Herrin
[email protected]
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