EPISODE · Mar 4, 2026 · 28 MIN
Rethinking Healthcare Quality Beyond Star Ratings with Will Bruhn
from Making Healthcare Sustainable · host Lantern
Choosing a surgeon shouldn’t feel like guessing on Google. Yet most patients make high-stakes decisions about surgery with little visibility into what actually drives better outcomes. Star ratings and hospital billboards don’t tell you whether a procedure is appropriate, how often a surgeon performs it, or what their real complication rates look like.In this episode of Making Healthcare Sustainable, Nancy Ryerson sits down with Will Bruhn, MD, Co-Founder and CEO of Global Appropriateness Measures or GAM, to unpack what quality in healthcare really means. Will shares how misaligned incentives can lead to unnecessary procedures, why appropriateness should be the first question patients ask, and how transparent data can help employers steer members toward better care.In this episode, you’ll learn:Why appropriateness of care matters as much as outcomesHow to evaluate surgeons beyond online reviews and hospital rankingsWhy there is no consistent link between higher cost and higher qualityHighlights:(00:00) Meet Will Bruhn(01:52) Innovations in network design for specialty care(03:00) Why a metric for appropriateness of care matters(05:17) The biggest misconception about healthcare quality(07:28) What finding quality care looks like today(13:20) Why some procedures happen even when they’re not appropriate(17:06) Real-world factors that affect appropriateness scores20:52) The myth that higher cost equals higher quality(22:04) The complexities of billing specialty care(24:15) Centers of excellence vs. networks of excellence(27:14) The quality transparency revolutionResources:Nancy Ryerson’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancyryerson/Will Bruhn’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/will-bruhn-md/GAM website: http://www.gameasures.com
What this episode covers
Choosing a surgeon shouldn’t feel like guessing on Google. Yet most patients make high-stakes decisions about surgery with little visibility into what actually drives better outcomes. Star ratings and hospital billboards don’t tell you whether a procedure is appropriate, how often a surgeon performs it, or what their real complication rates look like.In this episode of Making Healthcare Sustainable, Nancy Ryerson sits down with Will Bruhn, MD, Co-Founder and CEO of Global Appropriateness Measures or GAM, to unpack what quality in healthcare really means. Will shares how misaligned incentives can lead to unnecessary procedures, why appropriateness should be the first question patients ask, and how transparent data can help employers steer members toward better care.In this episode, you’ll learn:Why appropriateness of care matters as much as outcomesHow to evaluate surgeons beyond online reviews and hospital rankingsWhy there is no consistent link between higher cost and higher qualityHighlights:(00:00) Meet Will Bruhn(01:52) Innovations in network design for specialty care(03:00) Why a metric for appropriateness of care matters(05:17) The biggest misconception about healthcare quality(07:28) What finding quality care looks like today(13:20) Why some procedures happen even when they’re not appropriate(17:06) Real-world factors that affect appropriateness scores20:52) The myth that higher cost equals higher quality(22:04) The complexities of billing specialty care(24:15) Centers of excellence vs. networks of excellence(27:14) The quality transparency revolutionResources:Nancy Ryerson’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancyryerson/Will Bruhn’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/will-bruhn-md/GAM website: http://www.gameasures.com
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Rethinking Healthcare Quality Beyond Star Ratings with Will Bruhn
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