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Bloggers Take Up Controversial Dartmouth Research

Kaiser Health News examines the blogosphere's response to a New York Times article highly critical of research by the Dartmouth Atlas Project, an influential body of data that maps out geographic variations in health care costs, and other related information.

Reporters Reed Abelson and Gardiner Harris state that:

The mistaken belief that the Dartmouth research proves that cheaper care is better care is widespread — and has been fed in part by Dartmouth researchers themselves.

The debate about the Dartmouth work is important because a growing number of health policy researchers are finding that overhauling the nation’s health care system will be far harder and more painful than the Dartmouth work has long suggested. Cuts, if not made carefully, could cost lives.

But numerous bloggers, and the Dartmouth reseachers themselves, are vigorously defending their analyses, stating that the Times piece has a bunch of factual errors and misperceptions.

This program aired on June 8, 2010. The audio for this program is not available.

Headshot of Rachel Zimmerman

Rachel Zimmerman Reporter
Rachel Zimmerman previously reported on health and the intersection of health and business for WBUR. She is working on a memoir about rebuilding her family after her husband’s suicide. 

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