Publishing surgical league tables could be problematic in the South, where people are older and more likely to have surgical complications, Medical Council chairman Andrew Connolly says.
The medical regulator has sparked discussion among doctors about its discussion paper that asks whether the profession should be more open about medical outcomes.
At present, almost no information about a doctor's individual performance is available.
Only a limited amount is available about district health boards.
Some operations or other procedures carried more risk, which had to be kept in mind if comparing results.
''Your guys in Southern, if you take the middle of winter, you're likely to have more of your elderly people with lung diseases, because it's so cold.
''I'm not slagging off Dunedin's weather, but it is colder than say, Whangarei.
''So, it wouldn't be surprising if your surgeons had higher complication rates over winter, simply because patients may tend to be having chest infections at the time they need operations.
''If we don't get all that context we're just going to have anxious patients and depressed doctors.''
The example illustrated the complexity of a situation that could become a ''pickle'' if it was handled poorly.
Mr Connolly, a general surgeon, of Auckland, said his personal view was the most relevant information for the public was how their health board fared, rather than individuals.
He pointed out that as a surgeon himself, he could do a poor job of an operation, but the patient could be fine because of excellent nursing or intensive care.
It was possible DHB data could be released as a first step, before that of individual doctors, but the council itself did not take a view.
''I think it might take a bit of time to get it right, but I think we'll see better doctors in the long-term, but also much better informed patients in public.
''And the public need to know what's going on so they can have a say in how the health system's going.''
Simple communication issues between doctors and patients remained a huge problem, and some doctors used too much jargon.
''Just get rid of the arrogance, and be a bit more humane.
''Communication skills are a huge issue. As is the inability of some doctors just to say: `Look, I'm sorry about this','' Mr Connolly said.
Doctors themselves needed more information about their own surgical outcomes, he said.
An upgrade of computer systems was needed to enable changes, he said.
