What’s The Damn Denominator?
Here's what's making me crazy today: denominators. Specifically, reports and dashboards where the metrics displayed are utterly baffling (and useless) because the denominator is the wrong one for the information…
Is an Average of Averages Accurate? (Hint: NO!)
Today a client asked me to add an "average of averages" figure to some of his performance reports. I freely admit that a nervous and audible groan escaped my lips…
Control Charts – What Are You Controlling?
I'm an enormous fan of W. Edwards Deming and his classic quality-management book, Out of the Crisis. In addition to referring to it several times a year, I also often…
How Do You Rate?
We have a saying at home and around the office that we invoke whenever we learn something new: "You don't know what you don't know until you don't know it."…
Confidence Intervals Required
Here's what's driving me crazy today: healthcare outcome and performance reports -- especially those that display statistics such as Observed versus Expected (O/E) Mortality Ratios without showing the relevant (and…
Mere Mortals and Mortality Data
Many, many moons ago when I was a dating girl, I discovered that there were basically two categories of bad dates. There was the date that I hoped might lead…
Is My Dog Stoned?
I think my dog Juno got stoned at the park -- again. On at least two previous occasions and again just the other day, Juno started to stagger around, and…
When is a World Record Not?
When is a world record marathon time not a world record marathon time? When there are hills involved. On April 18th a 29-year old Kenyan named Geoffrey Mutai completed the…