Medical Safety & Global Health
Open Access

The Importance of Evidence-Based Medicine in Health Care: Advantages and Its Drawbacks

Paola Mhairi^{* *}Correspondence: Paola Mhairi, Department of Health Care Systems, Chuka University, Tharaka-Nithi County, Kenya, Email:

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Description

Applying the most current research to clinical care is known as Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM), which calls for fusing the best available data with clinical know-how and patient values. The term "best available research" refers to patient-focused, clinically relevant research that demonstrates the precision and accuracy of diagnostic tests, establishes the effectiveness and safety of therapeutic, rehabilitative, or preventative healthcare techniques, or seeks to comprehend the patient experience. It also emphasizes the significance of prognostic markers [1,2]. Medication based on facts a methodical approach to medicine where doctors and other healthcare workers base their judgments on the treatment of specific patients on the best available scientific data from clinical research. It combines the greatest available data from medical research with a specific doctor's examination and diagnostic abilities for a particular patient. The doctor's knowledge encompasses both diagnostic abilities and taking into account each patient's rights and choices while deciding how best to treat them. To create a unique plan of treatment, the physician consults relevant clinical research on the reliability of diagnostic procedures as well as the effectiveness and security of therapy, rehabilitation, and prevention. The creation of clinical practice guidelines or "best practices," which are evidence-based recommendations for particular medical diseases, has accelerated in recent years. Around 1,700 guidelines have been created in the US as resources for doctors to use when treating particular patient presentations. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) in the UK offers comprehensive "clinical guidance" on particular medical disorders to both the public and health care professionals. The Guidelines International Network, which hosts the largest guideline library in the world, brings together national guidelines agencies from every continent. According to the International Standard ISO 15189:2007 for Accreditation of Medical Laboratories, labs must constantly assess and enhance the calibre of their infrastructure [3-5].

Advantages

Evidence-based medicine may lessen negative outcomes, particularly those brought on by inaccurate diagnosis, outmoded or dangerous tests or treatments, or excessive pharmaceutical use [6].

Clinical guidelines give doctors, patients, and non-medical purchasers of health care a shared framework for better communication. A consistent plan of care reduces errors caused by shifting shifts or using several specialists.

Health care professionals, patients, and buyers can all make better use of the limited resources available to them by having information on the clinical effectiveness of treatments and services.

Doctors and nurses may stay current with new tests and treatments when standards are improved and medical advancements become available.

Drawbacks

Managed care plans may attempt limit "unnecessary" services to cut the costs of health care, despite the fact that there is evidence to suggest that recommendations should only be used as aids for decision-making when a particular practitioner is assessing a particular patient [7].

The formulation of guidelines requires agreement because the medical literature is constantly changing and frequently contentious.

It takes time and resources to implement policies and educate the facility's whole medical staff (which may be recovered by future efficiency and error reduction).

Given that anyone can influence decisions, evidence-based medicine may be resisted by clinicians as a challenge to established relationships between patients, physicians, and other healthcare providers.

Regulators' disciplinary action or liabilities may escalate if rules are not followed.

In order to quickly identify each patient's particular clinical situation and use the evidence that is customized to that patient's risks against benefits of proposed interventions, doctors must use their clinical expertise and prior experience. EBM's normative objective is to help the patient by placing the evidence in the context of their preferences, worries, and expectations. This leads to a collaborative decision-making process where the patient's values, situation, and environment determine the optimal course of action [8-10].

References

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