For me, air travel is a perfect time to catch up on some reading. I read scholarly journals or articles on benefits, get caught up on legislation, or even throw in a romance novel or two (sometimes I need a little entertainment). My literary selection this week is a book titled Why Nobody Believes the Numbers: Distinguishing Fact from Fiction in Population Health Management, written by Al Lewis. That’s it. I officially admit it — I’m a health plan nerd. The only scenery the poor romance novel saw on my trip was the inside of my travel bag.
Over the years there have been occasions when a carrier, vendor, or consultant offered me services with claims of significant savings or an array of impressive numbers. Trends, ratios, utilization percentages and claims of return on investments have all danced across presentations. But my typical response has always been to raise an eyebrow.
