Bringing important research evidence into practice: Canadian developments.

Area of Science:

• Medical Informatics
• Evidence-Based Medicine
• Clinical Practice Improvement

Background:

• The overwhelming volume of medical literature hinders the translation of research findings into clinical practice.
• Existing clinical guidelines are often numerous and may not be easily applicable.
• Clinicians require effective tools to identify and utilize the best available research evidence.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe two distinct strategies designed to facilitate the transfer of research evidence into clinical practice.
• To provide clinicians with accessible summaries of evidence-based recommendations.
• To support the practical application of research findings in patient care settings.

Main Methods:

• The Guideline Advisory Committee (GAC) systematically evaluated guidelines for 70 clinical topics with physician input, selecting a single best guideline and summarizing its recommendations.
• The Critically Appraised Practice Reflection Exercise (CAPRE) program synthesizes evidence for 40 common practice problems, offering patient-clinician discussion tools and a reflection exercise for continuing education credits.
• Both strategies emphasize dissemination through practice-based research networks.

Main Results:

• The GAC website receives over 100,000 monthly hits with 4500 regular users globally.
• The CAPRE program has engaged over 150 clinicians, with initial national launch data showing 60,000-80,000 weekly hits and 100 physicians completing the CME module in the first month.
• Physicians report positive patient reception to the use of current evidence in consultations, regardless of patient adherence to recommendations.

Conclusions:

• Translating research evidence into clinical practice presents significant challenges.
• Two programs, GAC and CAPRE, have been developed to address these challenges in evidence transfer.
• Preliminary results suggest these programs show promise in improving the relevance and application of research in clinical settings.