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Overcoming Bias Commenter's avatar

I agree that access to this data would be a good thing. However, I think your argument dismisses the data misinterpretation problem too quickly.

Here in the UK the media is constantly distorting debates about healthcare and as a result we have had to set up an independent body (NICE) to make comparisons between drugs and hospitals.

Data together with rational debate can leed to good outcomes.

Data, together with an irrational media, that falls for or exploits several cognitive biases (and errors in reasoning) in pursuing a story... doesn't leed to such great outcomes.

Access to information might have a negative effect in the short term and access to this information requires a more developed deliberative process within society.

But the right solution in my view is to have access to this information and provide better education for the public, journalists and better ways of presenting complex information. Independent oversight bodies (private or public) are a good idea too so long as they use a well thought through methodology.

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Overcoming Bias Commenter's avatar

Most procedures and situations are very standardized and statistics could be easily compared and understood by the general public. For example; all hospital induced infections should be public information. The rate of nosocomial infections (hospital created infections) says a lot about the sanitary conditions of the hospital and the quality of it's staff and management.

Things like outcome data for 4X heart bypasses by hospital and surgical teams can also be easily understood. You don't get a bypass unless you need it and you are in real trouble. In fact, I can't think of an area or problem where outcome data would not have been useful.

Even when asking a Dr. about outcome data, I have gotten answers like "very low risk of death" or 85% 2 yr cure rate but no references to journals or government collected statistics to back up those claims.

In a recent case (cardiac ablation), I was forced by lack of solid data to choose a Dr. on the basis of recommendations by reputation among other Dr.'s and the quality and readability of his scientific publications (which has nothing to do with how good his "hands" are).

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