As many of you know, I hate bar graphs. They are ubiquitous, and most of them are worthless. I'll make maybe two exceptions: 1) a Pareto analysis; 2) a comparative set of stratified histograms disaggregating a stable period of performance (a Pareto analysis proxy for continuous data). Displaying the latter as bars is one option; another—and my preferred—is displaying run or control charts on the same page and same scale.

About 15 years ago, I picked up my morning paper and saw an article, with the accompanying graph below (see my last column), rating the 20 health systems in my metropolitan community on the question, “Would you recommend your clinic to adult friends or family members?” I happened to work at Clinic 19 (maybe not the best service, but excellent care).

 …