Evidence-based medicine now routinely defines the standard of care for many conditions. This approach mandates that new information, gleaned from randomized controlled trials and consolidated into clinical practice guidelines, can and must be used to improve the quality of care that patients receive.
The Art of Evidence-Based Medicine
Evidence-based medicine now routinely defines the standard of care for many conditions. This approach mandates that new information, gleaned from randomized controlled trials and consolidated into clinical practice guidelines, can and must be used to improve the quality of care that patients receive. No one would disagree that clinical decisions should be based on the highest quality, systematic evidence that is available. However, there is a critical misunderstanding of what information randomized trials provide us and how health care providers should respond to the important information that these trials contain. The successful application of evidence-based medicine is an art that requires first and foremost, an awareness of the evidence, and also an ability to determine how well the evidence applies to any given patient.