This is not to say doctors are not in the know, they are, look a the journals they read, and more importantly than that, look at all the new developments, drug approvals, publications that come out on a daily basis, they too are in overload. If you find something on the web, ask your doctor if you think it could be something to pursue with a treatment plan.
This question, then brings up this question: Should Doctors have to follow Treatment Rules?
“Advocates of linking pay to treatment guidelines, such as Snow, argue that too often doctors fail to keep up with the science and don’t end up doing what’s appropriate.”
Sure we are playing catch up in healthcare IT, but have any of the advocates that criticize lack of science knowledge, been a family practice doctor? There’s no black and white to all of this, and science changes daily. Now, based on the story today about the journal articles that were fake, well can they now trust all their journals? This is a battle that’s never going to be won, sure we can get the doctors a little more tech savvy with electronic medical records, that’s a given and now that there’s money coming in to do so, but what do we do with the bean counters that want everything accountable and algorithms to explain everything? That one we will never solve as long as we are all humans who fall prone to being sick. BD
WASHINGTON - Think your doctor knows which drug — or surgery or even diagnostic test — works best? Think again.
Half the time, there's little if any good evidence comparing one to another. And one of medicine's little secrets is that brand-new drugs don't have to work any better than cheap old ones to be approved for sale.
Now the government has a $1.1 billion down payment to start unraveling that problem, money provided in the economic stimulus package to better determine which test or treatment works best, when and for whom so that patients don't waste time and money on poor choice.
Does arthroscopic surgery work any better than painkillers for knee arthritis? Of all the competing pills, which is best to start with in treating Type 2 diabetes or high blood pressure? Is there really any difference between Prevacid and Prilosec for heartburn, or between Fosamax and hormone treatments for bone-weakening osteoporosis?
The result: The nation has a scattershot method for determining best medicine. The little-known AHRQ spends about $30 million a year reviewing evidence of select tests and treatments. The National Institutes of Health occasionally compares contested therapies in expensive, years-long studies involving thousands of patients, like the stroke trial now under way.
Even docs often don’t know which test is best - Health care- msnbc.com
0 comments :
Post a Comment