Measuring hospital efficiency often relies on the

Question

Measuring hospital efficiency often relies on the number of patients treated per doctor. By this measure, a hospital that discharges more patients per doctor is considered more efficient. However, critics argue that this may be misleading. For instance, if doctors discharge patients too quickly, some may require readmission shortly after, or may not fully recover.

The objection above to the efficiency measure is based on doubts about the truth of which of the following statements?

A) Hospitals should prioritize speed of treatment over patient recovery. 
B) All hospitals treat patients with similar types of medical conditions. 
C) Efficiency in healthcare should be measured only in quantitative terms. 
D) Patient recovery outcomes are not relevant to evaluating hospital efficiency. 
E) The number of patients discharged is a valid indicator of hospital efficiency.

guddo · Answer

Measuring hospital efficiency often relies on the number of patients treated per doctor. By this measure, a hospital that discharges more patients per doctor is considered more efficient. However, critics argue that this may be misleading. For instance, if doctors discharge patients too quickly, some may require readmission shortly after, or may not fully recover. 
 
The objection above to the efficiency measure is based on doubts about the truth of which of the following statements?

The measure treats efficiency as a matter of quantity: more patients discharged per doctor means greater efficiency. The critics object that this can be misleading because it ignores whether patients actually recover or need readmission.  So the objection doubts that healthcare efficiency should be measured only by numbers , without considering outcome quality.

A) Hospitals should prioritize speed of treatment over patient recovery.

This is too extreme. The passage does not say hospitals should prioritize speed; it questions a measure that may overvalue speed.

B) All hospitals treat patients with similar types of medical conditions.

This is not the issue. The objection focuses on recovery and readmission, not on whether hospitals treat similar cases.

C) Efficiency in healthcare should be measured only in quantitative terms.

This is correct. The criticized measure uses a purely quantitative count: patients discharged per doctor. The objection says this is incomplete because it ignores qualitative results such as whether patients fully recover or need readmission.

D) Patient recovery outcomes are not relevant to evaluating hospital efficiency.

This is close, but it is narrower than C. The objection does imply that recovery outcomes matter, but the broader assumption being challenged is that a quantity-only measure is enough.

E) The number of patients discharged is a valid indicator of hospital efficiency.

This is too broad. The critics do not have to deny that discharge numbers are relevant at all; they object to using them as the whole measure of  efficiency .

Answer: (C)

SS3003 · Answer

Can someone please explain how to eliminate D- The objection is basically based on the fact that hospitals assume that discharge is same as recovery ?

guddo · Answer

D is tempting, but it is too specific and too absolute.

The objection is not simply that hospitals assume “discharge = recovery.” The objection is broader: the measure counts only the number of patients discharged per doctor and ignores outcome quality, such as readmission or incomplete recovery.

So  D captures one consequence of the flaw , but C captures the underlying assumption: efficiency is being measured only by quantity. The critics are doubting that a purely  quantitative  measure is enough.

gullyboy09 · Answer

The objection above to the efficiency measure is based on doubts about the truth of which of the following statements?
C) Efficiency in healthcare should be measured only in quantitative terms.

MartyMurray ,  KarishmaB  can you please help with the question? 
Argument is saying that "Number of patients treated per doctor" might be a misleading while measuring hospital efficiency. Supported by - For instance, if doctors discharge patients too quickly, some may require readmission shortly after, or may not fully recover.

Now how I took this argument as that it is saying only one quantitative metric "Number of patients treated per doctor" might be misleading, and we might need to add more quantitative metric like "How many were fully recovered". So in that way C IMO is not a correct answer as argument is not about should efficiency be measured only in quantitative terms, but rather we might need more than one quantitative metric to see the full picture.

KarishmaB · Answer

I would have picked (E) here so I don't think I can give you the test-maker's logic. 
For (C), I agree that other quantitative metrics could be included as per the argument - such as the rate of re-admission. So I am sure if the objection is doubting the truth of " Efficiency in healthcare should be measured only in quantitative terms"
On the other hand, the argument does imply that the number of patients discharged is not a valid indicator of hospital efficiency. It certainly is not a complete measure and needs to be adjusted. So I would pick this.

Measuring hospital efficiency often relies on the

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