Why Nobody Believes the Numbers: Al Lewis takes on Milliman and Mercer

[audio http://healthbb.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/lewis3.mp3]
Disease Management Purchasing Consortium President Al Lewis has never been one to mince words. So it's no surprise that he comes out swinging in his book, Why Nobody Believes the Numbers: Distinguishing Fact from Fiction in Population Health Management.In this podcast interview he summarizes some of the provocative points from his book:

• The widely used Care Continuum Alliance guidelines are invalid
• Milliman and Mercer make massive mistakes in measurement --and many of their claims are simply "impossible"
• Some entities that think they have saved hundreds of millions of dollars from disease management and wellness programs don't appear to have saved anything at all

Al is putting his money where his mouth is, offering thousands of dollars to those who can prove him wrong.Listen carefully and you'll also hear some observations about Iraq, Greece and Germany.