Patients deserve safe, effective care backed by the best available scientific evidence. Yet research shows that as much as half of all medical care delivered fails to meet that standard.
Across the country, the quality and quantity of health care delivered varies dramatically in ways that can’t be explained by patient demographics, severity of illness or income. Underuse, overuse and misuse of healthcare services are rampant: Some people receive too little care and some too much care for the same condition, and some receive care that actually causes harm.
What can be done to encourage the practice of evidence-based medicine?
The first step is to conduct carefully designed, independent research into what works and what doesn’t work. Next, research findings need to be synthesized, compiled, “translated” and made available to physicians and their patients, both of whom need credible scientific evidence to make medical decisions. Doctors need to have such information at their fingertips to offer up-to-date treatment recommendations. Patients need accessible information to help them decide with their doctors what treatment is right for them. Increased availability and use of independent evidence will improve the quality of care and patient safety while assuring health-care consumers that they are getting the best possible care and not wasting health-care dollars.
The Campaign for Effective Patient Care advocates for improved patient care through policies that support doctors and patients in making smart use of the most up-to-date, trusted, scientific evidence about what works best for which patients.
| “We live in a world where much of what we do in medicine lacks appropriate scientific evidence. How we decide ranges from our experience with the last patient we saw, to a series of anecdotes , to a group of experts getting together to say, ‘I think this is best,’ to scientific trials with varying degrees of rigor . Evidence-based medicine is information that’s scientifically sound. While such science is often lacking, we should be honest about the basis for all our decisions and apply the most solid evidence we can find.” Meg Durbin MD, primary care physician and Regional Director for Managed Care at Palo Alto Medical Foundation |
Across the country, the quality and quantity of health care delivered varies dramatically in ways that can’t be explained by patient demographics, severity of illness or income. Underuse, overuse and misuse of healthcare services are rampant: Some people receive too little care and some too much care for the same condition, and some receive care that actually causes harm.
What can be done to encourage the practice of evidence-based medicine?
The first step is to conduct carefully designed, independent research into what works and what doesn’t work. Next, research findings need to be synthesized, compiled, “translated” and made available to physicians and their patients, both of whom need credible scientific evidence to make medical decisions. Doctors need to have such information at their fingertips to offer up-to-date treatment recommendations. Patients need accessible information to help them decide with their doctors what treatment is right for them. Increased availability and use of independent evidence will improve the quality of care and patient safety while assuring health-care consumers that they are getting the best possible care and not wasting health-care dollars.
The federal government recently enacted its fiscal stimulus package, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which included $1.1 billion to compare the effectiveness of various health-care treatments.
| “Evidence based medicine is the background for everything I do. I want to be very careful that anything I touch will have positive outcomes for our patients. So we use the best medical evidence available to guide our clinical directions.” Jerry Penso, MD, MBA, Associate Medical Director, Quality Programs, Sharp Rees-Stealy Medical Group |