Sunday, February 14, 2010

Is Health Care Policy-Making Facilitated or Trapped by EBM?

Has the Evidence Based Medicine (EBM) movement "driven the study of health care policy-making into a conceptual cul-de-sac"?
The goal of EBM has always been to find and implement the best medical research evidence to ensure best patient outcomes. In effect 'bridge the know-do gap'. A smooth unimpeded path for new research knowledge to be translated to patient care and beyond to health care policy, has been the default expectation.
Should this be, or does this have to be a 'cul-de-sac' situation? This has been a growing argument in some circles (no pun intended), and one put forward by an interdisciplinary research group based out of the UK. Studying the science and nature of evidence with a wide-angle lense, this group takes policy studies in general and health care policy-making in particular, beyond simple 'decision science'.
"...we have argued that it is time to problematize the notion of 'evidence' in the heath care policy-making process and to legitimize rather than devalue the place of practical judgement."
Login to the EBSCO database for the full text of this interesting article from the Journal of Health Services Research & Policy (UK) .
Citation:
Russell, J., Greenhalgh, T., Byrne, E., & McDonnell, J. (2008). Recognizing rhetoric in health care policy analysis. (pp. 40-46). doi:10.1258/jhsrp.2007.006029.
This all brings to my mind the infamous word's of Inspector Clouseau, "Facts Hercule, nothing matters but the facts..."

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