A Practical Approach to Evidence-Based Medicine for the Medical Communications Professional

Abstract

The daily responsibilities of medical communications professionals require the application of evidence-based medicine (EBM) principles. Decision making based on personal experience alone, without knowledge from well-designed, controlled, randomized trials with adequate sample size, often overestimates the efficacy and underestimates the safety risks associated with drug therapy. The practice of EBM involves integrating clinical expertise with the best available evidence from systematic research. There are several EBM methods currently available; however, many of these are complex, requiring considerable time and effort. Medical communications professionals need a simple, time-sensitive, systematic EBM process they can quickly learn and integrate into their thought process and decision making. An EBM process developed by the University of Missouri, Kansas City School of Pharmacy Drug Information Center provides these attributes. This five-step evidence-based medicine process and a case study illustrating how the medical communications professional applies the process are described in this article.