Health Statistics

general, hc's problem list, medical records, policy issues, reforming hc, understanding statistics

Fred Trotter: Data, damn data, and statistics

Kathleen O'Malley | December 27, 2011

Why does this blog use the word “damn” so often? A search produces a whopping 38 hits, such as: Fools! Damn fools! And Medical Science (Right, Santa??) Atlantic: Lies, Damned Lies, and Medical Science “Gimme my damn data!” The stage is being set to enable patient-driven disruptive innovation Lies, Damn Lies And Statistics: Collective Statistical [...]

e-pts resources, general, news & gossip, policy issues, understanding statistics

e-Patient Training Topic: National Article Reports Relative Risk, Not Raw Data.

e-Patient Dave | August 14, 2009

Important update: it turns out the writer did get it right, and this was an editing error at the Boston Globe. See my comment August 17. —– As empowered, engaged patients we have a responsibility to evaluate the articles we read. A case in point is this week’s Associated Press article Any Spread Of Breast Cancer [...]

policy issues, reforming hc, trends & principles, understanding statistics

I’m sick of hearing Washington talk about savings “over ten years”

e-Patient Dave | July 10, 2009

I am sick of hearing politicians and money-making parties talk about savings projections “over ten years.” It’s STUPID. We’re stupid if we listen. Nothing (and I mean nothing) happens as projected ten years ago, not even five. It’s fiction; it’s a bogus way to inflate modest figures. This is the same issue as e-patients understanding [...]