A Powerful Link Between Best Evidence and Frontline Clinicians

by Michael Fischer, MD, MS, & Bevin K. Shagoury

Tags: Detailing Visits, Evidence-Based Medicine, Training

Changes in healthcare are accelerating faster than ever, amplified by the immediacy of virtual communication. New research studies or guidelines appear simultaneously in traditional media, online news sites, and social media. Front-line clinicians may not have the time to review the actual data before incorporating new information into their practices.  We’ve seen this recently with topics such as managing cholesterol and hypertension, the safety and possible overuse of pain medications, and new treatments for hepatitis C.

These topics present a challenge not only for clinicians and their patients, but for those who work on medical education and quality improvement efforts. Educational messages cannot be static; rather, organizations working to promote change and improvement need to identify new evidence, incorporate it into interventions and bring it to frontline clinicians.  Amidst the steady stream of research and new discoveries, along with ongoing debates about those findings, how do organizations work to effectively assess needs, share best evidence, and improve healthcare outcomes?

NaRCAD is uniquely positioned to help address this question, serving as a powerful and integral link between the best evidence and frontline clinicians by supporting academic detailing programs and related outreach interventions. We’re leaders in the field, providing training and support to health care organizations to establish effective academic detailing programs, working with partners to develop academic detailing program templates which can be adopted by others, and sustaining a network of programs sharing best practices in academic detailing to improve patient health outcomes.

Evidence aside, observation and insight tells us that healthcare, like the populations it serves, is organic; constantly changing, growing, and redefining the best next steps to improve the quality of care and patient outcomes. As new medical evidence emerges and new delivery system innovations are introduced, we at NaRCAD look to help those changes enter practice in a way that most benefits patients and public health. Learn more about us, or tell us how we can help you.

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