Brief Treatment and Crisis Intervention 4:187-194 (2004)
© Oxford University Press 2004; all rights reserved.
Evidence-Based Clinical Practice
From the Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada (Mills, Guyatt), and the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, Metabolism, Nutrition, and Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota (Montori).
Contact author: Edward Mills, McMaster University Health Sciences Centre, 2C12, 1200 Main Street West, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada L8N 3Z5. E-mail: millsej{at}mcmaster.ca.
Evidence-based medicine has created a paradigm shift in medicine, away from authority-based decision making and toward decision making that is informed by research and considers patient values and preferences. Evidence-based clinical practice requires accessing and evaluating the highest-quality information that is relevant to the patient problem at hand. In light of the best evidence, clinicians can help make decisions in keeping with their patients' values and preferences.
KEY WORDS: evidence-based medicine, history of medicine, decision making, mental health