Description
Book SynopsisWhy Nobody Believes the Numbers introduces a unique viewpointto population health outcomes measurement: Results/ROIs should be presented as they are, not aswe wish they would be. This viewpoint contrasts sharply with vendor/promoter/consultant claims along two very important dimensions:
(1) Why Nobody Believes presents outcomes/ROIs achievable right here on this very planet
(2) calculated usingactual data rather than controlled substances.
Indeed, nowhere in healthcare is it possible to find such sharply contrasting worldviews, methodologies, and grips on reality.
Why Nobody Believes the Numbers includes 12 case studies of vendors, carriers, and consultants who were apparently playing hooky the day their teacher covered fifth-grade math, as told by an author whose argument style can be so persuasive that he was once able to convince a resort to sell him a timeshare. Thebook''s lesson: no need to believe what your vendor
Trade Review
“It’s rare that a book about mathematics is funny. And this is not just any math: It’s population health analysis. This is the stuff that employers, benefit managers, CFOs and many others want to know: how to figure out if an intervention “worked” and reduced costs.”—Employee Benefit News
“Do yourself a favor and buy this book. And, keep it handy the next time you entertain a DM/wellness proposal or examine data submitted to you by your vendor. You will never read those proposals or reports the same way again”—Khanna on Health
“Digital Health Book of the Year”—Forbes
Table of ContentsIntroduction xiii
Chapter 1 Actuaries Behaving Badly 1
Chapter 2 Plausibility Testing: How to Measure Outcomes Using Ingredients You Already Have in Your Kitchen 35
Chapter 3 Case Studies That Flunk Every Plausibility Test Known to Mankind 53
Chapter 4 Case Studies That Flunk Every Plausibility Test Known to Mankind and Then Some 73
Chapter 5 Case Studies of Where, When, and How Wellness Programs Have Actually Worked 125
Chapter 6 Yes, Virginia, There Is a Savings Clause 141
Chapter 7 Disease Management Programs That Actually Work (Pinch Me) 151
Chapter 8 Contracting/RFP Checklist of Do’s and Don’ts (Mostly Don’ts) 175
Appendix: The Keys to the Numerical Kingdom 193
Author’s Note on Sources 195
Notes 197
Glossary 201
About the Author 207
Bibliography and Further Reading 209
Acknowledgments 211
