Question: Hospital losses. A hospital struggling to contain costs investigates procedures on which it loses money. Government standards place medical procedures into Diagnostic Related Groups (DRGs). For example, major joint replacements are DRG 209. The hospital takes from its records a random sample of 8 DRG 209 patients each month. The losses incurred per patient have been in control, with mean $6400 and standard deviation $700. Here are the mean losses \(\bar{X}\) for the samples taken in the next 15 months:

6244 6534 6080 6476 6s469 6544 6415 6697 6497 6912 6638 6857 6659 7509 7374

What does an \(\bar{X}\) chart suggest about the hospital's losses on major joint replacements?

Follow the four-step process in your answer.