Gigerenzer,G.
Muir Gray,J.A.

Efficient health care requires informed doctors and patients. The health care system in- herited from the 20th century falls short on both counts. Many doctors and most patients do not understand the available medical evidence. Seven sins are identifi ed which have contributed to this lack of knowledge: biased funding; biased reporting in medical journals; biased patient pamphlets; biased reporting in the media; confl icts of interest; defensive medicine; and medical curricula that fail to teach doctors how to comprehend health statistics. These fl aws have generated a partially ineffi cient system that wastes taxpayers money on unnecessary or even potentially harmful tests and treatments as well as on medical research that is of limited relevance to the patient. Raising taxes or rationing care is often seen as the only viable alternative to exploding health care costs. Yet there is a third option: by promoting health literacy, better care is possible for less money. The 21st century should become the century of the patient. Governments and health institutions need to change course and provide honest and transparent informa- tion to enable better doctors, better patients, and, ultimately, better health care.

Gigerenzer, G., & Muir Gray, J. A. (2011). Launching the century of the patient. In G. Gigerenzer & J. A. Muir Gray (Eds.), Better doctors, better patients, better decisions: Envisioning health care 2020 (pp. 3-28). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. (Full text)

Publication year	2011
Document type:	In book
Publication status:	Published
External URL:	http://library.mpib-berlin.mpg.de/ft/gg/GG_Launching_2011.pdf View
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