Evidence-based management is the current in-thing in the healthcare environment today. Managers make better decisions if they prove it will work based on research outcomes conducted and delivered by professionals. For instance, if a manager in the healthcare sector wants to decide which department to allocate the least resources in a hospital, they have to use evidence that one unit is more deserving than another. If the manager integrates evidence from the more deserving unit and wise decision-making strategies from peer-reviewed journals and textbook material, they will allocate resources appropriately. Evidence-based management is also essential because it helps to minimize internal organizational protocol and process inefficiencies ( Walshe & Rundall, 2001) . Managers that use well-researched methods to make decisions on subordinate executives to run other departments select clinical units that need more personnel and costs to eliminate increase operational efficiencies of their hospital. In the mentioned instance, a clinic with a manager using evidence-based decision-making will have less inefficiency. The patient flow will improve, emergency response departments will not be overwhelmed, and the clinic will not lack money to respond to crises because it was misappropriated. Furthermore, evidence-based management helps to address long-term problems that have disrupted clinical operations and reduced positive patient outcomes. If a manager begins making informed decisions, they can eliminate issues their clinics faced in the past, such as low patient satisfaction rates, high rates of a trained physician and nurse turnover, and staff burnout. Therefore, evidence-based management is vital in the healthcare section because managers use it for wise decision-making, eliminating errors, and improving favorable patient outcome rates.
Currently, nurses and physicians overuse, underuse, and misuse diagnoses and treatment protocols. For instance, when a physician routinely prescribes psychosis medication for patients with schizophrenia, they are overusing the practice. When a nurse uses pressure equipment to relieve pressure ulcers in patients, they are misusing the technique. Finally, when a physician refuses to allow other professionals, such as music therapists, to help manage a patient’s condition because the practice is relatively new, they are underusing their treatment options. Evidence-based practice eliminates mentioned problems by providing proof that the medical fraternity needs to base their treatment and diagnoses on facts ( Walshe & Rundall, 2001) . Further, evidence-based research creates a culture of using new guidelines to offer treatment for complex diseases, improving patient outcomes significantly.
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Evidence-based treatment and diagnoses can be based on data sourced from organizational practices, scientific input, laboratory experiments, and stakeholders’ ideas. Researchers can use information sourced from different clinical departments to compile evidence that a problem exists or there is need to change a particular culture. For instance, if a clinic is experiencing increased patient complaints on poor service, it may contract an external auditor to assess internal organizational practices. All departments will be vetted and organizational practice data collected and analyzed by the auditor will help to create evidence that internal organizational culture should change for better patient experiences. Additionally, hospitals can use scientific information published by medical experts as proof that if they use a certain technique to review patient symptoms, they will make accurate diagnoses ( Black et al., 2016) . Further, a hospital may request its laboratory department to scrutinize samples of a group of patients complaining of a common problem and having a similar issue. The laboratory results will help physicians make evidence-based diagnoses and prescribe appropriate pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions. Finally, a clinic can source stakeholders input to make informed decisions and to improve patient outcomes. For instance, perhaps a hospital has been ranked lowest in performance by a national healthcare review body. The clinic may send surveys to its frequent service users to assess their failure areas. Research outcomes will provide evidence on areas of improvement that require implementation and if the hospital executes sensible stakeholders’ recommendations, it may top in the following national healthcare rankings.
One common misconception about evidence-based healthcare delivery systems is that they undermine medical practitioners’ expertise. Most physicians and nurses believe their techniques to diagnose and treat patients are the best because they have been perfected over several years ( Correa-de-Araujo, 2015) . Therefore, if a researcher says that, for instance, anxiety in dementia patients can be treated using music therapy instead of drugs, physicians feel threatened and annoyed that their experience is devalued. However, patient needs are becoming increasingly complex today. Dementia in patients has multiple side effects that require an interdisciplinary approach to manage.
Therefore, the evidence-based use of music therapy to treat anxiety in dementia patients will free the experienced physician to attend to other patients, reduce costs associated with frequently buying medication, and calm the patient without interfering with their metabolism. Hence, it is a misconception that evidence-based care undermines long-term physician experience. In the end, the patients’ families can save the money they were spending to buy anxiety medications, and the doctor will have ample time to help other patients if they allow a psychiatrist experienced in music therapy to help the dementia patient. Besides, music therapy can also be provided in the patient’s home environment, reducing the need for frequent emergency response attention and rehospitalization. Suppose more dementia patients are managed from home when they begin exhibiting dementia symptoms. In that case, a physician can recommend the clinic admit other patients who deserve more attention in the wards previously occupied by dementia convalescents. Therefore, evidence-based care does not devalue medical personnel’s experiences. Instead, it creates a platform for the physician and patient’s families to actualize the advantages mentioned above.
References
Black, A. T., Balneaves, L. G., Garossino, C., Puyat, J. H., & Qian, H. (2016). Promoting evidence-based practice through a research training program for point-of-care clinicians. JONA: The Journal of Nursing Administration , 46 (10), 36-42. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.nna.0000499766.29737.15
Correa-de-Araujo, R. (2015). Evidence-based practice in the United States: Challenges, progress, and future directions. Health Care for Women International , 37 (1), 2-22. https://doi.org/10.1080/07399332.2015.1102269
Walshe, K., & Rundall, T. G. (2001). Evidence-based Management: From Theory to Practice in Healthcare. The Milbank Quarterly , 79 (3), 427-457. https://www.cebma.org/wp-content/uploads/Walshe-en-Rundall-Evidence-Management-From-Theory-to-Practice-in-Health-Care1.pdf
