Moneyball Health Care?

[Minstrel]

Billy Beane, for those that don't follow baseball, is the GM of the Oakland A's. He was one of the earliest adopters of advanced statistical analysis in baseball and started a bit of a revolution in roster building by applying Wall Street market analysis concepts to the baseball talent market. A very popular book was written about his methods and his successful results, called "Moneyball."

This is an article, written by Beane with John Kerry and Newt Gingrich, about how evidence-based analysis, a big part of current advanced statistical analysis movement in baseball, should be a "must" in the health care industry.

Data-driven baseball has produced surprising results. Michael Lewis writes in “Moneyball” that the Oakland A’s have won games and division titles at one-sixth the cost of the most profligate teams. This season, the New York Yankees, Detroit Tigers and New York Mets — the three teams with the highest payrolls, a combined $486 million — are watching the playoffs on television, while the Tampa Bay Rays, a franchise that uses a data-driven approach and has the second-lowest payroll in baseball at $44 million, are in the World Series (a sad reality for one of us).

Remarkably, a doctor today can get more data on the starting third baseman on his fantasy baseball team than on the effectiveness of life-and-death medical procedures. Studies have shown that most health care is not based on clinical studies of what works best and what does not — be it a test, treatment, drug or technology. Instead, most care is based on informed opinion, personal observation or tradition.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/24/opinion/24beane.html?_r=2&ref=opinion&oref=slogin&oref=slogin