The Business Case for Evidence-Based Medicine

Abstract

A number of exceptional studies have been concluded over the last few months that shed new light on the critical factors driving heroic gains in clinical practice variation, customer satisfaction, patient safety and cost reduction. While many of these lessons have been reported to us since the early days of the quality and evidence-based medicine (EBM) movement in healthcare, notions linking the potential for cost recovery from the prevalence of clinical practice variation, medical errors and other process defects have been slow to evolve, as in other industries. The bottom line of these studies is that most organisations are facing three dilemmas:

execution is slower, with fewer results, than required to meet strategic goals

most have run out of ideas

priorities of the medical leadership and the organisations' leadership are out of sync. and the gap is widening.