Why Healthcare Can't Afford Wishful Thinking

In this series, professionals describe what numbers govern their happiness. Write your own #MyMetric post here.

Wishful thinking is a powerful force. People seek facts that confirm their biases. We tend not to see the world as it is, but as we’d like it to be. This is no problem in some areas of life. But in healthcare, we can’t afford wishful thinking. Lives depend on the accuracy and objectivity of our perceptions. That’s why my personal metric for success is simple — numbers.

Business people know that you need to measure a thing if you want to control and improve it. But this type of thinking has been historically rare in healthcare. When Cleveland Clinic began collecting cardiovascular outcomes in the early 1970s, and publishing them in mid 1990s, we were the only major medical center to do so. In 2004, we were the first to require all of our clinical services to collect and publish their outcomes and volumes data. Moreover, we asked them to define numerical benchmarks for improvement, and to publish their success or lack of success in meeting these goals.

Today, we publish 14 annual outcomes books in print and online. They have helped catalyze continuous improvement in quality, safety and clinical results.

Numbers are coming to play an increasingly important role in direct patient care, through what we call evidence-based care paths. A care path is an “if-then” decision tree for a specific condition and presentation. Its advice is usually based on the data from thousands of cases, or the well-supported research. Cleveland Clinic has developed hundreds of care paths and is making them available both inside and outside our organization. Care paths are helping to reduce variation in diagnosis and treatment — something we need to do if we are to transform healthcare from a cottage industry to a sustainable asset to our nation and its people in the years ahead.

Jim Collins, author of “Good to Great,” recognizes that non-profit organizations have special challenges when it comes to measuring “greatness.” He suggests that we ask ourselves, “How effectively do we deliver on our mission and make a distinctive impact, relative to our resources?” Once again, this is a question best answered not with words, but with data — comparative numbers showing where you stand compared to where you want to be.

With the rise of value-based reimbursement, the need to measure and control is more critical than ever. Today, the very survival of healthcare providers depends on their ability to set, meet, and manage the numerical targets that define their margins.

Of course, numbers alone don’t tell the whole story in healthcare. They need to be interpreted in the light of experience, intuition and empathy. If we mind them correctly, our numbers should add up to illnesses resolved, lives saved, and better health for all.

• More posts on this topic:
• “Success Is a Moving Target. Here’s How I Know When I’ve Hit the Mark.” — Suze Orman, television host, author, motivational speaker, producer
• “Exit Interviews Reveal What Your Employees Really Think. Are You Ready?” — Shane Atchison, CEO at Possible
• “My Metric for Success? It’s All About Impact” — Sallie Krawcheck, CEO and Co-founder of Ellevest
• “I Thought I Was Short on Time; Now I'm Long on Meaning” — Maynard Webb, Chairman, Yahoo!; Former COO, eBay
• “Maybe Woody Allen Was Right — 80% of Success Is Just Showing Up” — Whitney Johnson, thinker, author, speaker, advisor, coach
• “How to Turn the To-Do List into a 'Winner List'” — Naomi Simson, Founding Director, RedBalloon; Author, Blogger, Speaker
• “Wisdom from My Grandfather: You're Only in Trouble When Life Stops Being Interesting” — Nicholas Thompson, Editor of NewYorker.com
• “There’s No ‘I’ in Team. No ‘I’ in Success, Either.” — Bob Nardelli, Former Chairman and CEO of The Home Depot and Chrysler Corp.
• “When Was the Last Time You Were ‘in the Zone’?” — Neil Blumenthal, Co-Founder and Co-CEO at Warby Parker
• “Why I've Learned to Celebrate the Daily Successes” — Marcus Samuelsson, Chef and Author at Marcus Samuelsson Group
• “Successful Companies Don't Just Talk About Gender Diversity. They Do This.” — Jonas Prising, Chairwoman & CEO of ManpowerGroup
• “When I've Opened Doors for Others, I Know I've Made an Impact” — Carrie Schwab-Pomerantz, President, Charles Schwab Foundation & Senior Vice President, Charles Schwab
• “My Metric of Success? Giving Away Over $1 Billion” — T. Boone Pickens, Founder, Chairman and CEO at BP Capital and TBP Investments Management
• “Find Love in Whatever Form It Comes in For You” — Janine Allis, Founder of Boost Juice