Scientific methods used to determine which drugs and procedures are best for treating diseases? The answers may surprise you. Modern healthcare is undergoing a long-overdue and dramatic evolution.
Evidence-based health care
- Evidence-based health care is the conscientious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients or the delivery of health services. Current best evidence is up-to-date information from relevant, valid research about the effects of different forms of health care, the potential for harm from exposure to particular agents, the accuracy of diagnostic tests, and the predictive power of prognostic factors [1].
- Evidence-based clinical practice is an approach to decision-making in which the clinician uses the best evidence available, in consultation with the patient, to decide upon the option which suits that patient best [2].
- Evidence-based medicine is the conscientious, explicit and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients. The practice of evidence-based medicine means integrating individual clinical expertise with the best available external clinical evidence from systematic research [3].
The Evidence-based Medicine Triad
Source: Florida State University, College of Medicine. Retrieved 04/1/16.
