The drumbeat of EBM — Evidence Based Medicine — seems less vigorous in the wake of enthusiasm for new models of care — Medical Homes and Accountable Care Organizations — and reimbursement based on performance, outcomes, or episodes of care. A good definition of EBM from Sackett, et. al:
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. http://www.bmj.com/content/312/7023/71.full [1]
In my view, evidence based medicine and evidence based practice will be central to the success of these delivery, risk sharing or risk shifting reimbursement models. A useful construct for implementation of EBM or EBP:
- Translation of uncertainty to an answerable question
- Systematic retrieval of best evidence available
- Critical appraisal of evidence for validity, clinical relevance, and applicability
- Application of evidence in practice; and
- Evaluation of performance
Managed Care Organizations can and should play a key role in numbers 1–3 and number 5 above. Payers and their provider networks will need to effect collaboration, share knowledge and learning, and orchestrate some degree of administrative and clinical data integration to put meaning into meaningful use and to achieve meaningful improvement in outcomes and affordability.
Steven R. Peskin, MD, MBA, FACP is executive vice president and chief medical officer of MediMedia USA, which publishes Managed Care. He is Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey–Robert Wood Johnson Medical School