THESE DAYS, IT’S AMAZING IF WE KNOW ANYTHING WITH CERTAINTY. I went looking for items ranking the world’s different healthcare systems, only to discover little if any agreement. All of us on this ostomy website, naturally, are interested in the health systems where we live, and how they are rated internationally. With respect to the U.S. healthcare system ranking, the only thing that I could determine with any certainty was that it’s not one of the higher rated in the world. Three different takes had the U.S. ranked 21st, 11th, and 37th in the world. Canada and the UK were always rated higher than the U.S. but, as you might expect, each arbiter had a different order on their chart. One rating system listed the U.S. as only 21st on the list re Quality-of-Life standards but, we can relax, we’re the most dominant economic and military power. I’ll try to keep that in mind the next time I have a malady that gets misdiagnosed. Apparently, inconsistent and imperfect metrics contribute to the variety in rankings from survey to survey. It puts me in mind of one of Donald Rumsfeld’s ruminations: “Reports that say that something hasn't happened are always interesting to me, because as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns- the ones we don't know we don't know.” I can’t improve on that, but Mark Twain certainly could: “Facts are stubborn things, but statistics are pliable.”

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Collin shares his top 3 tips on how to stay hydrated while living with an ostomy.
For more tips and resources, check out our Ostomy Learning Center.
For more tips and resources, check out our Ostomy Learning Center.