Doctor's Digest

Although evidence-based medicine, or EBM, may look like a clinical topic at first glance, it’s actually tied to the business of medicine as well. The basic concept is to develop a body of clinical evidence from electronic health records and health claims data. This data has led thirdparty payers to step up and use that evidence in two ways: to restructure reimbursement and to develop guidelines and best practices.

Are you basing your everyday clinical decisions on real evidence? And if you’re already practicing evidence-based medicine, or EBM, what sources do you rely on for your decision-making process? Although there’s no shortage of information to suggest to the physician what to do, the “why” behind the instruction is not always apparent.

In recent years, the body of medical knowledge has grown significantly as a result of electronic health records and health claims data. The availability of that data now makes it possible to compare quality-of-care statistics, which can be used to develop clinical guidelines, treatment guides, and other tools that can help raise the quality of care for all patients. Using proven clinical evidence to enhance your patient care is the essence of evidence-based medicine, or EBM.

Although physicians in some specialties tend to work more hours than others, the average physician clocks significantly more than the standard five eight-hour days. Physicians in anesthesiology, obstetrics and gynecology, general surgery, and urology report averages above 60 hours per week. Dermatology, emergency medicine, and pathology doctors clock in on the low end, but still hover around 46 hours per week. Once a physician makes the decision to scale back to part-time, the question becomes how to do it.

Almost every state in the country requires physicians to complete a certain number of hours of continuing medical education, or CME, in order to maintain their medical license. But CME is important for another reason, too: it offers you a chance to stay clinically current, challenged, and invigorated. The current issue of Doctor’s Digest, entitled “Personal and Professional Growth,” offers the following information about how to make CME a convenient and helpful addition to your professional life.

A lot has been written about physician burnout—how to recognize the signs and symptoms and how to get back on track. But the best course is to avoid burnout in the first place. The challenge is to find a workable balance between your work and your life so that burnout can never happen.