Objectives:

At the conclusion of the workshop the learner will be able to do the following:

1. Define evidence-based practice.
2. Describe the manner in which informatics facilitates the development, access, analysis, and application of evidence related to clinical practice.

Outline:

1. What is Evidence-based Practice?
   1. Traditional conceptualizations
      1. Research utilization
      2. Clinical trials based
      3. Clinical practice guidelines
   2. Application of domain knowledge to patient care
      1. Evidence as a continuum
   3. Evidence-based medicine is the practice of making medical decisions through the judicious identification, evaluation, and application of the most relevant information (Friedland, 1998)
2. What’s the Problem that Evidence-based Practice Tries to Solve?
   1. Avoidable errors
   2. Underutilization of services
   3. Overuse of services
   4. Variation in services
   5. Gap between "best" practice and actual practice
3. Components of Evidence-based Practice
   1. Building the evidence
   2. Accessing the evidence
   3. Analyzing the evidence
   4. Applying the evidence
4. Informatics is Key for All Aspects
5. Building the Evidence
   1. Standardized language for defining health care interventions
   2. Outcome measurements sensitive to the interventions
   3. Techniques for routinely capturing and analyzing these types of data
   4. Core reference data model for research
6. Accessing the Evidence
   1. Information Resources
      1. Bibliographic
      2. Diagnostic decision support (Exercise #1)
      3. Practice guidelines
      4. Systematic reviews — Cochrane Collaboration (Exercise #2)
      5. Comparative databases
   2. Electronic networks
   3. Standards for representation and transmission of health care data
   4. Informatics competencies
      1. Acquire various types of data, information, and knowledge
      2. Organize data, information, and knowledge
      3. Critically analyze and synthesize data, information, and knowledge
      4. Apply data, information, and knowledge in the clinical decision making and care provision process
7. Analyzing the Evidence
   1. Analyzing the primary literature
   2. Systematic reviews — Trial Bank (Exercise #3)
8. Applying the Evidence
   1. Tailoring of intervention based on data
   2. Patient preference assessment (Exercise #4)
   3. Expected value decision making — TreeAge (Exercise #5)