OnSiteClinics.Org

Will Your Employees Accept Evidence-Based Medicine?

A study was published in the July, 2010 issue of Health Affairs, and summarized in the AAFP NEWS NOW  recently.  The study included both qualitative and quantitative data collection (with data collection completed during 2006-2007).  The goal appeared to be to determine to what degree patients understand what evidence-based medicine really is, and find out if they would accept its use in making treatment decisions for themselves or family members.

The results point to a real problem that employers must face and solve because the use of evidence-based medicine has great potential for reducing costs and improving outcomes.  That problem is that patients equate the use of evidence-based medicine with rationing, poor quality care, and the like. 

The challenge becomes how to help your employees better understand what evidence-based medicine is all about, and then not just understand its use, but embrace it.  This can’t be done at arm’s-length through your insurance company’s network of physicians.  You don’t have a real relationship with those physicians, nor do you have  any means of communicating with them effectively on a routine basis.

As far as we can tell, the patient-centered medical home is the best hope for turning around these misconceptions and getting employees/patients to accept that the best medicine isn’t always the most expensive.