Over the past several years, the practice of medicine has changed because of the ease with which medical providers can access current research. Access to research has allowed physicians to better practice evidence-based medicine — medical diagnosis and treatment based on the most recent scientific research and measured outcomes. Patients benefit from this greater focus on quality of medical services and patient outcomes. They should also be certain that their physician is guided by evidence-based medicine principles to be certain their treatment is guided by practices that have been scientifically researched and proven.
Because of the depth of information now available to physicians, they can alter diagnoses and treatments as needed, based on current research. Access to medical research has changed dramatically with the advent of the Internet for both practitioners and patients. It is important that patients be careful of the Internet resource they are using when researching medical symptoms, conditions or treatments.
Physicians commonly utilize a subscription service that most hospitals provide, called Up-To-Date. This service evaluates approximately 300 textbooks and 500 peer reviewed journals. The Up-To-Date medical writers then summarize the current information and post it to the service.
Each article reviews the diagnosis and treatment of a specific condition and evaluates the most current research on treatment. As a physician, it is always interesting to note when an established treatment protocol is replaced by another more effective treatment based on current research. It’s evidence of the medical community’s advancing knowledge. It also means better outcomes for our patients — perhaps a shorter course of illness or less chance of complications. It may mean a more cost-effective approach for both the patient and the insurance company, or even an improved chance for surviving a once fatal disease.
As an example, recent research has shown that certain treatments improve survival after a heart attack, stroke, or pneumonia. Based on this research, new initiatives have been implemented at community hospitals with excellent success. At the same time, other treatments are studied at community hospitals, providing information that can effect how physicians treat patients.
It’s important for physicians to deliver health care based on current medical literature — it is our responsibility to treat patients as best we can. As a patient, it’s your right to question your health care practitioner about the safety and efficacy of proposed treatment. Be sure that it is guided by sound scientific principles.
As a society, we continue to focus on the quality of medical services and measuring patient outcomes — how effective is a treatment for an individual? With that in mind, it is important patients choose a medical provider who uses evidence-based research to guide his or her treatment of you. That means your physician’s practices should be guided by scientific research that attests to the safety and efficacy of treatment.
Recently, I was asked to evaluate the efficacy and success of a new treatment for back pain — the DRX 9000 traction machine. According to ads in newspapers around the country, the DRX 9000 treats herniated disks in your back without the need for surgery. Each patient — regardless of the variety of their symptoms or conditions – are treated with the DRX 9000 five days per week for six weeks. It is worth noting that each treatment costs several hundred dollars and most insurance companies do not pay for this therapy.
As I researched the use of the DRX 9000, I discovered that the Food and Drug Administration does not approve of this mode of treatment. Thus far, there has been only one published study in which only 75 patients were assessed after they had been treated with the DRX 9000. Further, nothing currently exists in medical literature that supports the use of the DRX 9000, because no controlled medical studies have proven the success and safety of this machine.
Follow Us
