Don't blame the maths...

The Power of Mathematical Thinking is a guide book of sorts. A contextual account of the worthiness of dusting off your latent math skills and joining the data revolution.

I am prompted to write a quick post because of a new benefit being made available for members of the Association of Healthcare Journalists. You can read more about the group here--I always include the group in my list of hacks to better medical writing or reporting.

​Carevoyance has a catchy tagline--the economic map of healthcare. What they are going to provide journalists is quite useful. The data points will extend what is already available to the savvy data entrepreneur. If you have an idea or a story this is the place to examine physician relationships, financial data, prescriptions and more.

What could go wrong? I think you know the answer. Just because the peach is heavy--it doesn't mean you should grab it. There is a lot of data out there. Take a breath and begin building a framework of numeracy and mathematical thinking.


​When you find yourself questioning the data or noticing the gaps in logic--you are ready.

---

From the dawn of civilization until 2003 humankind generated five exabytes of data. Now we produce five exabytes every two days-- and the pace is accelerating.
​Eric Schmidt Google

I

via GIPHY

data

---

I was recently asked to bid on a project. If you know me--you know how I loathe the "let's make a deal" mentality. I prefer discussing budgets. If I know your budget I will load it up with specific tools that I uniquely can provide. Think about it. If you do what everyone else does--you get what every body else gets. I am not interested in the average--the dumbing down or disneyfication of data reports or writing.

You need to set the gauge at value. When you are hired it should be because of data you have processed. Data here can represent research articles written, books written, advisory council meetings, outcomes reports, analyses, speaking engagements--you get the idea. The pattern recognition of knowing the terrain and also knowing where the road-less traveled is where you need to be. You are a special little snowflake. Don't let anyone move you to the middle. The edge has the better view.

Thoughtful discussions about content development and outcomes analytics that apply the principles and frameworks of health policy and economics to persistent and perplexing health and health care problems...