Not leaping ahead

It is so striking that hospitals are keen to accept and publicize the results of the fairly meaningless US News and World Report hospital rankings--rankings that have no statistical validity and are based in part on rumors about the quality of care delivered--and yet complain bitterly when the Leapfrog Group posts scores based on data about preventable medical errors and injuries.  The scores revealed “little improvement in safety overall” since the last report.

In American life, the three great lies are (1) "The check is in the mail;" (2) "I'll still respect you in the morning;" and (3) "I'm from the government and I'm here to help you."

In the hospital world, the two great lies are (1) "Your data are flawed" and (2) "Our patients are sicker."

This article, though, contains a new rebuttal approach:

Jeff Dye, president of the New Mexico Hospital Association, fired back at the data, saying many of the state's hospitals have stopped participating in the Leapfrog survey because they “see it as extortion to obtain a higher score.”

Perhaps someone can explain what that actually means.  Heaven forbid that a hospital's score would improve.