Patient-Centered Care? Not for This Patient

And not for how many more?

Any situation such as the one described here sometimes defies any algorithm or ven diagram designed to assure continuity and totality of patient management.

The term seems to have evolved to assuage patient concerns that our health system is in run-away mode driven by self interest of providers, specialists, primary care physicians, insurance companies, pharma, and our government. Each has it's own self-interest.

Now in the era of 'big data' and analytics another powerful force is taking over. " the patient experience'. Surveys present the opportunity to serve up how well providers, hospitals and insurers meet standards of compliance. In a world of check boxes rankings depend upon documented compliance with an arbitrary bar, and without looking deeper into the evaluation.

Given the task of measurement by managers the statistician becomes a 'king maker' with his numbers. At first glance knowing the numbers seems to be objective and factual. Most highly educated professionals know that statistics often lie, and are only probabilities. Statistics do not solve problems, they are merely one of the tools for managers, providers and others to support ideas and proposals for change-making.