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> ... hospital infections are very clear and obvious metrics. Are you kidding? There are all sorts of ways for hospitals and doctors to manipulate this stuff,
by jessriedel 10y ago
> ... hospital infections are very clear and obvious metrics.
Are you kidding? There are all sorts of ways for hospitals and doctors to manipulate this stuff, e.g., attract healthier patients (less compromised immune systems) or ones who are wealthier, younger, and more likely to follow instructions; give more prophylactic antibiotics; classify more patients as palliative http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/canadian-hospitals-may-be-manipulating-death-rates-new-study-suggests http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/canadian-hospitals-... ; slant cause-of-death classification when there is ambiguity.
- jdmichal 10y agoI remember an article here about how hard it is to gather metrics on MSRA-related deaths precisely because they are often not mentioned in the cause-of-death reports. I think this was it: http://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-uncounted-surveillance/ http://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-uncou... https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12443994#12445403 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12443994#12445403