Data doesn't lie, but it can fail to tell the whole story

article about HealthGrades Bariatric report (includes link to report)

These ratings are based on "expected" outcomes, but I can tell you from experience that the heroic Docs who run our University and major referral hospitals are taking care of unmeasurable levels of complexity in some patients. That does not make them automatically the best, but it is worth taking into consideration BEYOND the data.

My own personal care will not be chosen simply on the "star system", but I think these databases will continue to be more useful every year.