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Evidence-based medicine
Evidence-based medicine (EBM) is “a systematic approach to clinical problem solving which allows the integration of the best available research evidence with clinical expertise and patient values,” according to doctors David L. Sackett, Sharon E. Strauss, and W. Scott Richardson, who popularized the practice.[1][2]
Usage
Healthcare providers who use EBM to make decisions use evidence that a specific treatment works based on scientific literature and clinical studies rather than only a provider’s beliefs and clinical experience.[1][2]
A doctor practicing EBM when treating a patient would follow the steps listed below, according to Florida State University’s College of Medicine.
| “ | 1. Convert information needs into answerable questions 2. Track down with maximum efficiency the best evidence with which to answer them |
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Support
Supporters of EBM say that it can help reduce healthcare costs and improve the quality of healthcare because doctors can use a set of evidence-based best practices to reduce unnecessary and ineffective treatments. According to Aaron E. Carroll, a professor of pediatrics at Indiana University School of Medicine, EBM can help doctors make better diagnoses and advise patients on effective treatments. He wrote, "We can use test characteristics and results to make better diagnoses. We can use evidence from treatments to help people make better choices once diagnoses are made. We can devise research to give us the information we are lacking to improve lives. And, when we have enough studies available, we can look at them together to make widespread recommendations with more confidence than we’d otherwise be able."[2]
Opposition
Those who oppose EBM say that guidelines created by the practice are based on weak evidence and take away the healthcare provider’s ability to diagnose and treat a patient based on his or her individual needs. Others who oppose EBM “worry that guidelines line the pockets of pharmaceutical companies and radiologists by demanding more drugs and more scans. Others worry that evidence-based medicine makes it harder to get insurance companies to pay for needed care. Insurance companies worry that evidence-based recommendations put them on the hook for treatment with minimal proven value,” according Carroll.[2]
Another concern is that some think “that payers will use medical evidence to ration care, or to limit doctors’ ability to tailor their care," according to Eric M. Patashnik, professor of public policy and political science at Brown University.[4]
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Florida State University College of Medicine, "Evidence-Based Medicine Tutorial," accessed January 9, 2019
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 The New York Times, "What We Mean When We Say Evidence-Based Medicine," December 27, 2017
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Washington Post, We know that evidence-based medicine works. So why don't politicians support it? October 3, 2017
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