Evidence based medicine in patient care

Evidence-Based Medicine in Patient Care Evidence-based medicine is a relatively new term. To simplify what it is, essentially, it's a combination of things used to treat a patient. The idea is to utilize the scientific side of medicine, the physicians' knowledge and expertise, and combine it with the patient's history, needs, and lifestyle. In other words, if a patient is a professional tennis player and has a tumor in their arm, the protocol would be to carefully consider how treatment should proceed. An aggressive and harsh treatment for the arm of a tennis player is probably not something the patient wants. A group of doctors would meet and discuss possibilities as to the best form of treatment while preserving the use of the patient's arm, so that their life is not altered. This is a concept that has been developed to provide more patient satisfaction in medicine, and also involving the patient more in the decision making about their care.

For many years patients have visited their primary healthcare provider, and come away dissatisfied. Most people complained that the physician they saw did not really listen to them, and they would be prescribed medication or a treatment without being consulted on their thoughts. The patient had no input on their course of treatment, however, that has now changed.

Patients often have access to their own records online, including lab work.

Information suggests that patients involved in their medical treatmentplan, heal more quickly and return to normal activities faster.

Related: Practicing Nursing While Pregnant Requirements for Evidence Based Medicine Practice • Find the all-around best evidence for the everyday practice in patient care- this can be done by using education, studies, lectures, and any proven scientific data.

• Make certain the treatment plan is what the patient wants for themselves. The days are gone that a patient provides the physician with their symptoms, and then waits for A prescription. Today, most doctors discuss the patient's symptoms, and then give the patient options of which treatment they prefer.

• Evaluation of diagnostic tests is imperative; the doctor should discuss all tests with the patient prior to having them done, explaining what the tests are for. Afterwards the tests should be explained to the patient with the final results.

• Get up to date treatments that would benefit the patient; doctors should stay well educated on the latest medical information available.

This will provide the patient with as many options of treatment as possible.

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Use all the medical information about the patient, followed by the patient's desires, and what they want as a result of their treatment.

Does Evidence Based Medicine work?

Evidence based medicine promotes the up to date information that doctors utilize. This is very important because of how quickly things change and advancements in the medical industry. With the introduction of electronic medical records, it's much easier to implement a plan of care based on the patient's needs. The records can be sent and received in a matter minutes instead of days. Evidence based medicine puts everything on the table, so the patient will understand and then approve of his plan of treatment. The patient and the physician will both come to an agreement that the treatment is in the best interest of the patient.

Related: Top 10 Tips to Start Your Semester the Right Way After some studies, there is no question at all that evidence based medicine does work. It gives a sense of empowerment to the patient. With access to the patients’ own medical information and lab work, they are able to see exactly what is involved in the treatment process, something that was not an option in previous years. The patient now has the ability to provide information to the doctor so that the treatment plan is developed with the patient's needs and wishes at the heart of the decision. Yes, evidence based healthcare not only works, it works very well.

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