5. Can we use data to solve this?
YES!*
* With sufficient caveats + context
@charlesornstein
6. What data can tell us
• Whether our doctor has financial relationships
with pharmaceutical companies that make the
drugs we take.
• How our doctor’s prescribing habits compares
to other doctors in the same specialty and state.
• What services and treatments our doctor
performs most and how those compare.
• Who is in our doctor’s referral network.
@charlesornstein
9. What we found
Dr. Jon W. Draud, the medical director of
psychiatric and addiction medicine at two
Tennessee hospitals, earned more than $1
million for delivering promotional talks
and consulting for seven drug companies
in less than four years.
@charlesornstein
19. What we need
•Data on all payments from drug/device
companies to doctors.
•Characteristics of each provider’s
practice (age range/gender of patients,
illnesses, dual eligible status)
@charlesornstein
20. What we need
•Opportunities for meaningful physician
comments with the data—both to
correct errors and provide context.
•Meaningful patient interaction and
questions.
•What am I missing?
@charlesornstein
21. Final thoughts
•Industry data sets are intended for
industry audiences. But why stop
there? @ProPublica makes the data
*useful* for everyone. #medx
•Consumers trying to get the best
health care for themselves and their
loved ones need better data. #medx
@charlesornstein