Related Experiment Videos
Some limits to evidence-based medicine: a case study from elective orthopaedics
E Ferlie1, M Wood, L Fitzgerald
1Imperial Management School, Imperial College of Science, Technology, and Medicine, London, UK.
Quality in Health Care : QHC
|November 11, 1999
Summary
Implementing evidence-based medicine (EBM) is complex due to varied evidence models and professional knowledge monopolies. These factors create significant obstacles to widespread adoption of EBM in clinical practice.
Area of Science:
- Medical research methodology
- Sociology of science
- Healthcare management
Background:
- Growing interest in evidence-based medicine (EBM) principles.
- Implementation of EBM is recognized as complex.
- Clinical behavior change is influenced by scientific, organizational, and behavioral factors.
Purpose of the Study:
- To illuminate the processes shaping clinical behavior change in the context of EBM implementation.
- To explore the factors influencing the adoption of EBM within a specific clinical setting.
Main Methods:
- Qualitative data collection using a case study approach.
- Focus on elective orthopaedics within a larger research study.
- Analysis of factors influencing clinical practice and evidence interpretation.
Main Results:
- Identification of alternative models for defining "evidence" in clinical practice.
- Recognition that scientific knowledge is socially constructed.
- Observation that clinical professionals maintain a monopoly on technical knowledge.
Conclusions:
- The social construction of scientific knowledge and professional expertise presents challenges to EBM.
- Alternative interpretations of "evidence" can hinder standardized EBM implementation.
- Significant obstacles exist for the rapid and broad adoption of evidence-based medicine.