Evidence-based medical practice

I listened to a fascinating podcast from ABC Radio National "The Health Report." If you listen to podcasts at all, "The Health Report" needs to be on your list of ones to listen to.

This podcast was a two-parter focused on Evidence-Based Medicine. Here's the transcript for part one of the two-part series. It was a fascinating view into what Australia is attempting to do to get health practitioners of all varieties; physicians, nurses, naturopaths, etc., to use evidence-based medicine rather than just personal experience, or, my favorite, "It's what my colleagues are doing." Interestingly, the report used stats on the United States to show how many people are harmed or not helped by the way medical decisions are made in the U.S. In other words, we are keeping track of people being harmed, but what about the flip side of the coin?

Making time to read the transcript or listen to the podcast would be beneficial, but until you have the opportunity, here are the three questions suggested by Karen Carey Hazell, who is the Former Chair Health Consumers Council of Western Australia and Member Consumer Health Forum Canberra Perth, WA.


"What are my options?

What are the expected outcomes? And

What's the likelihood of each of those outcomes?

We know from decision making models across a lot of different industries that where probability is involved the minimum amount of data that you need to have is really the answers to those three questions. What are my options? What are the outcomes and what's the likelihood each outcome will occur? And that goes for you know if you're playing roulette at the casino, or you're buying a house, or wherever there's probability, so a lack of certainty, that's the minimum amount of data that you need to know."

The good thing this podcast reminds us is that we are the consumer. It is our responsibility to assure ourselves that our medical partners are giving us evidence-based information. If they are not, then we must do the research ourselves. Actually, even if they are giving us evidence-based information, we still need to be doing the research ourselves.

One final caveat, if you run into a health care partner who does not welcome your questions, encourage your research, and listen when you ask for this information, look elsewhere for a partner, and tell them why you are going to join with someone else. The system will not change until we make it change.