# Test plan — Healthcare

The test plan with three columns a provider needs: which service line the test runs against, which claim the variant makes, and the clinical review that cleared both arms of it.

Everything else is the general test plan, unchanged. One hypothesis with a because in it, one variable, a named control, a minimum run, a read date set in advance and a decision rule for every outcome.

## How to use it

1. Copy this file, or the CSV version if you would rather work in a sheet.
2. Write the hypothesis before the variant, and make sure it contains a because.
3. Name one variable. If there are two, that is two tests.
4. Set the primary metric, the minimum run and the read date before anything is built.
5. Write the decision rule for every outcome, including the one where nothing moves.
6. Leave Result blank until the read date, and then fill it in whatever it says.
7. Keep the finished rows. A year of them is worth more than any single test in it.

## The columns

**Test ID** (Text). A short stable identifier that travels onto the creative file, the ad name and the clinical review record, so a finding can be tied to the wording that was cleared for it.

**Hypothesis** (Text). What you believe and why, with a because in it, and here the reason is usually about the barrier: stating the wait will raise attendance because most cancellations follow a surprise about it.

**Variable** (Text). The single thing being changed, and it should be a claim about the process rather than about an outcome, because process claims are the ones that survive review and move attendance.

**Control** (Text). What the variant is compared against, named exactly, including its review reference. A control whose claim was narrowed mid-run is no longer the control that was agreed.

**Variant** (Text). What is being tried, described so somebody could build it, and written as the exact claim that goes to clinical review rather than as a summary of the idea.

**Audience** (Text). Who sees the test, identical on both sides and inside what the platform permits. Neither arm may infer a condition, in the audience or in the words.

**Where it runs** (Text). Where the test actually runs: platform, campaign and placement. Health advertising is reviewed differently across surfaces, so a test spanning two is two tests with two clearances.

**Primary metric** (Text). The one number this test is decided on, which should be an attended appointment wherever the practice management system records one. Enquiries are easy to move and weakly predictive.

**Minimum run** (Text). The shortest run before anybody looks, long enough for the appointments to have happened rather than for the enquiries to arrive, which is usually four weeks rather than one.

**Read date** (Date (YYYY-MM-DD)). The day the result is read, set in advance, and not in a period where availability is expected to change, because a full book will decide the result instead of the variant.

**Decision rule** (Text). What each outcome means, written before the test starts, including what happens when the sample is too thin to distinguish the arms, which at practice volumes is common.

**Owner** (Text). The person who builds the test, reads it on the read date, and tells reception that both arms are to be handled identically.

**Result** (Text). What happened and what was decided, written on the read date, including the week the book filled or a claim was narrowed. Blank until then.

**Service line** (Text). The service this test runs against. Attendance rates, audiences and claim histories differ by service, so a result from one rarely transfers without being re-read.

**Claim under test** (Text). The claim the variant makes, written plainly: a waiting time, a process, a credential, an outcome. It is what the clinical review reads, so vagueness here becomes rework.

**Clinical review reference** (Text). The reference that cleared both arms, with its date and reviewer. A variant whose claim is not cleared does not run, whatever the hypothesis is worth.

## The test plan

| Test ID | Hypothesis | Variable | Control | Variant | Audience | Where it runs | Primary metric | Minimum run | Read date | Decision rule | Owner | Result | Service line | Claim under test | Clinical review reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
|   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
|   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
|   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |

## Before you commit it

- Every row has a hypothesis with a because in it.
- Every row names the claim the variant makes, in plain words.
- Both arms carry a clinical review reference with a date and a reviewer.
- The primary metric is an attended appointment where the system records one.
- Capacity was stable across the run, or the row says it was not.
- The decision rule covers the outcome where nothing moves.
- Every finished row has a result, and narrowed claims are recorded too.