tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7617900481067592523.post3590331459746249779..comments2012-05-02T11:27:55.438-04:00Comments on Health and Society: Instinct, Reasoning, and GuidelinesJHChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15006595225373347228noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7617900481067592523.post-56968175844564315442012-04-24T17:14:43.915-04:002012-04-24T17:14:43.915-04:00Is standardization via evidence-based medicine har...Is standardization via evidence-based medicine harmful to the patient though? I don't think it is.<br /><br />I understand how many people believe standardization harms the medical profession, stifles doctors' creativity, mastery, intuition, and ideology and is not conducive to treating patients on a case by case basis. However, standardization via evidence-based medicine is extremely helpful to the patient in terms of the overall improvement of the quality and safety of the treatments that doctors utilize based on proven effectiveness rather than their sole ideology that they are effective. Several examples of common medical practices based on ideology rather than evidence include antibiotics being used to treat ear infections, the use of cough syrup by children, and surgery to relieve back pain. None of these treatments are proven to be effective. Some are actually more harmful than helpful to the patient.<br /><br />I believe standardization via evidence-based medicine provides a minimum standard of expected care and as a result results in the improvement of medical quality and safety. I also believe evidence-based medicine has its benefits in terms of aiding the treatment of groups of individuals and thus can be applied to patients on a case by case basis. This is because evidence-based medicine studies show that treatment A is particularly effective for treating group B for condition C, whereas treatment D is effective for treating group E for illness F. Finally, evidence-based medicine is a huge component of comparative effectiveness research in national health reform. If doctors used a treatment that is proven to be consistently effective in treating a particular condition based on this research, we will be narrowing the range of uncertainty in medical practice, improving the chances of reducing illness and death, and save money on treatment and care that is not as effective, not effective at all, or actually complication causing (and then save money on the treatment of those complications too). <br /><br />While I believe evidence-based medicine should be utilized more consistently by physicians, this does not mean that doctors should not use their own judgement in choosing the specific treatment that will be the MOST EFFECTIVE for a particular patient. Patients should also be make aware of all of the treatment options as well as their effectiveness and be allowed to have a say in what treatment they receive based on this information.Silpa Tadavarthyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10801887430477893156noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7617900481067592523.post-22685893798820035752012-04-23T21:49:17.428-04:002012-04-23T21:49:17.428-04:00I agree with Chelsye on the point of standardizati...I agree with Chelsye on the point of standardization being harmful to the profession. During the discussion of whether medicine is an art or science, I believe we came to the conclusion that it is both - a science backed up by the creativity and decision-making of physicians. Standardization would try to eliminate the inherent variability between caregivers, thus taking the art and enforcing a pattern on it. While again I agree that evidence-based medicine is important from a scientific and logical point of view, I do not believe that it should completely dominate the decision-making process. The mastery and intuition of doctors gained through experience are the only things setting them apart from a chimp with a checklist (aka someone with a bachelor's degree). If doctor's always have to second guess themselves because something deviates from a mapped diagnosis, I feel it could also take away from their learning experience, because they could be attracted to the standardized care - it might take off some intellectual load off during bedside examinations, but at what cost?Nikhil Sharmahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01316812441422979388noreply@blogger.com