We keep reading the same old statistics about the poor quality of health care in the United States as a justification for how it needs to be fundamentally changed. We hear that the U.S. ranks 37th in infant mortality, has lower life expectancy than that of many developed countries in the Western world, and that there are 90,000 deaths per year because of medical errors — all despite higher costs per capita. These notions have been cited so frequently that they seem to gain traction simply from their repetition.

Of course, once quoted, scant attention is paid to any analysis of their validity. Several reasons should make us pause before accepting such numbers. Different reported outcomes might have to do with different methods for gathering results from country to country....