Evidence-based medicine (EBM) is "the conscientious, explicit and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients." The aim of EBM is to integrate the experience of the clinician, the values of the patient, and the best available scientific information to guide decision-making about clinical management. The term was originally used to describe an approach to teaching the practice of medicine and improving decisions by individual physicians about individual patients.
A medical guideline is a document with the aim of guiding decisions and criteria regarding diagnosis, management, and treatment in specific areas of healthcare. Such documents have been in use for thousands of years during the entire history of medicine. However, in contrast to previous approaches, which were often based on tradition or authority, modern medical guidelines are based on an examination of current evidence within the paradigm of evidence-based medicine. They usually include summarized consensus statements on best practice in healthcare. A healthcare provider is obliged to know the medical guidelines of their profession, and has to decide whether to follow the recommendations of a guideline for an individual treatment.
The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) is the professional body for general practitioners (GPs) in Australia. The RACGP is responsible for maintaining standards for quality clinical practice, education and training, and research in Australian general practice. The RACGP represents over 40,000 members across metropolitan, urban, rural and remote Australia.
A patient safety organization (PSO) is a group, institution, or association that improves medical care by reducing medical errors. Common functions of patient safety organizations are data collection, analysis, reporting, education, funding, and advocacy. A PSO differs from a Federally designed Patient Safety Organization (PSO), which provides health care providers in the U.S. privilege and confidentiality protections for efforts to improve patient safety and the quality of patient care delivery
The Guidelines International Network (GIN) is an international scientific association of organisations and individuals interested and involved in development and application of evidence-based guidelines and health care information. The network supports evidence-based health care and improved health outcomes by reducing inappropriate variation throughout the world.
Health policy can be defined as the "decisions, plans, and actions that are undertaken to achieve specific healthcare goals within a society". According to the World Health Organization, an explicit health policy can achieve several things: it defines a vision for the future; it outlines priorities and the expected roles of different groups; and it builds consensus and informs people.
The International Network of Health Promoting Hospitals and Health Services (HPH) is a nonprofit, non-governmental organization that was initiated by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1988. It is also known simply as HPH, or "Health Promoting Hospitals." HPH is based on the settings approach to health promotion philosophy of the WHO as outlined in the WHO Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion. The organization's main aim is to improve the health gain of hospitals and health services by a bundle of strategies targeting patients, staff, and the community.
The German Agency for Quality in Medicine (AEZQ) - in German "Ärztliches Zentrum für Qualität in der Medizin (ÄZQ)", established in 1995 and located in Berlin, co-ordinates healthcare quality programmes with special focus on evidence-based medicine, medical guidelines, patient empowerment, patient safety programs, and quality management.
Zeitschrift für Evidenz, Fortbildung und Qualität im Gesundheitswesen is a bilingual German and English language peer-reviewed medical journal published by Elsevier Germany. It was established in 1904 as the Zeitschrift für ärztliche Fortbildung by Ernst von Bergmann. ZEFQ is the organ of various organisations working in the fields of evidence-based medicine, patient empowerment, patient safety, and quality management in healthcare:. Among these are:
Günter Ollenschläger is a German physician, medical editor, and á former professor of internal medicine and clinical decision making at the University of Cologne, Faculty of Medicine.
The European Society of Cardiology (ESC) is an independent non-profit, non-governmental professional association that works to advance the prevention, diagnosis and management of diseases of the heart and blood vessels, and improve scientific understanding of the heart and vascular system. This is done by:
Patient participation is a trend that arose in answer to medical paternalism. Informed consent is a process where patients make decisions informed by the advice of medical professionals.
The Society of Hospital Medicine (SHM) is a membership society for hospitalists, physicians, and other caregivers who practice the specialty of hospital medicine.
The European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) is the leading professional organisation for medical oncology. With more than 25,000 members representing oncology professionals from over 160 countries worldwide, ESMO was founded in 1975.
Evidence-based dentistry (EBD) is the dental part of the more general movement toward evidence-based medicine and other evidence-based practices. The pervasive access to information on the internet includes different aspects of dentistry for both the dentists and patients. This has created a need to ensure that evidence referenced to are valid, reliable and of good quality.
The Improvement Science Research Network (ISRN) is a research network for academics and physicians who are conducting studies in the new medical field of improvement science.
Alessandro Liberati was an Italian healthcare researcher and clinical epidemiologist, and founder of the Italian Cochrane Centre.
Martin Scherer is a German university professor and specialist for general practice and primary care. He is director of the Department of General practice and Primary care and head of the Division of Primary Medical Care at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf. Since 2015 he is vice president of the German College of General Practitioners and Family Physicians (DEGAM) and since 2006 speaker of the Clinical Guidelines Committee.
Holger Jens Schünemann is a physician and professor of medicine and Clinical epidemiology. From 1 February 2009 to 30 June 2019 he was the chair of the Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact at McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada, where he now works as full professor.
Learning health systems (LHS) are health and healthcare systems in which knowledge generation processes are embedded in daily practice to improve individual and population health. At its most fundamental level, a learning health system applies a conceptual approach wherein science, informatics, incentives, and culture are aligned to support continuous improvement, innovation, and equity, and seamlessly embed knowledge and best practices into care delivery
