Evidence-Based Management in Healthcare

Evidence-Based Management in Healthcare is a compendium of essays and articles that support the use of evidence-based decision making. Authors Anthony Kovner, David Fine, and Richard D'Aquila argue that good managerial decisions are based on the best available research and information. Evidence-based management is a simple concept that can reduce costs, increase profits, and save lives. Evidence-based (EB) management is the systematic application of the best available evidence to business processes, strategic decisions, and the evaluation of managerial practices. Though EB management is a simple concept and is easy to utilize, most healthcare leaders only consider their own experiences and peer recommendations when making a decision. EB management can be used in any industry, but the healthcare industry has found it particularly difficult to implement EB practices. Evidence-based management is a five-step process: Formulate the research question. Acquire relevant research findings and other evidence. Assess the validity, quality, and applicability of the evidence. Present the evidence effectively. Apply the evidence in decision-making. Formulating the research question requires managers to frame the issue in a way that will make locating useful research easy. Relevant evidence can be acquired through a variety of resources, including colleagues, consultants, experts, and the internet. In order to assess the quality of the evidence managers must be able to determine the strength of research design as well as its context and setting. When presenting evidence, managers should be brief, be timely, and avoid technical jargon. While evidence-based management is a relatively new strategy, evidence-based medicine is not. Interestingly enough, EB management and EB medicine share similar practices and a similar rationale. Doctors must always take the best possible evidence into consideration before diagnosing and treating a patient; similarly, managers must become enlightened about an issue before diagnosing and treating the problem