Evidence Based

You hear a lot about "evidence based" medicine nowadays, but it obviously means something more than just "medicine based on some evidence." I imagine all medicine is based on SOME evidence.

Note that "evidence based" doesn't quite mean proven.

So it was with great interest that I read an article by Erika Ramsdale, MD, and William Dale, MD, "Evidence-Based Guidelines and Quality Measures in the Care of Older Adults".

I'm no physician, but the article had some interesting points, including these:

In many cases, clinical trials fail to enroll subjects representative of patients seen in practice.
...
Furthermore, there is no definitive evidence that using EBM clinical guidelines as quality measures improves outcomes.
...
Algorithmic guidelines sufficiently flexible to account for the wide heterogeneity of older adults are unlikely to be created.

Sometimes the evidence-base
may have little to do
with the case you now face.