There are a LARGE number of ways to use these two functions and it only takes a SMALL amount of time to learn about them in Excel Video 195. MIN is an easy Excel function that takes the smallest value in a list. What if you want the third smallest value for a calculation like the third next available appointment for a physician? Try SMALL. SMALL has a range of values just like MIN does, but after the range of values SMALL lets you tell Excel which smallest value you want. In our example, entering 3 will return the third smallest value in the list.
MAX is the opposite of MIN and takes the largest value in a list. If you want the fourth largest value in a list, try LARGE. LARGE has the same syntax as SMALL so it’s just as easy to use.
Notice in Excel Video 195 that when I searched for the third largest payer based on payer mix percentage, LARGE found the percentage (5%), not the payer (CIGNA). To get the payer, I used two more Excel functions, INDEX and MATCH. If you aren’t familiar with INDEX and Match, watch Excel Videos 178-183 to see several examples. Combining functions like this is a key to getting powerful, time-saving results in Excel.
