What really counts

"When it comes to people—and policy—numbers are both powerful and perilous"

As we are striving daily to reach a post-pandemic, new normal, any fair reflection on our recent crisis indicates we did not have the data to manage our way through this one. We navigated, often blindly, using analytics and instinct inadequate to forecast the rapidly changing coronavirus disease progression, supply chain fluctuations, ICU capacity/ labor demands, and the growing behavioral health toll on all involved.

In addition, we've come to realize that the data we do have often invokes gender and racial bias at a time when we precisely needed to focus on health equity/ disparity made very visible this past year.

I was struck this week by The New Yorker article, What Data Can’t Do, by Hannah Fry for her review of two new books “Counting: How We Use Numbers to Decide What Matters“ by Deborah Stone and “The Data Detective“ by Tim Harford. Both books highlight the risks of relying too heavily on numbers and avoiding the pitfalls of a world driven by data.

From the article: “The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated just how vulnerable the world can be when you don't have good statistics. In a year of uncertainty, numbers have come to serve as a source of comfort. Seduced by their seeming precision and objectivity, we feel betrayed when the numbers failed to capture the unruliness of reality “.

For healthcare it is time to step back for clarity and step up; to seek the data, analytical tools, and leadership competency to claim the foresight necessary to manage any future crisis prospectively - to measure and act on what really counts. As an industry, our ability to innovate our way forward and navigate the next crisis is directly linked to the availability, unbiased quality, and effective use of data.

The limitations and consequences are now abundantly clear. No better time for health policy and delivery system leaders to commit to build the capability, with trust and confidence, for a data-driven future.

?Enjoy the books!?