What is Evidenced-Based Medicine and What Does it Mean to Me?

Evidenced-Based Medicine

Evidenced Based Practice has different meanings for medical clinicians vs for patients, that is probably beyond the scope of this blog post.   Regarding quality of healthcare, patients should be asking themselves "Am I receiving the best care, that is supported by evidence, that correctly diagnosed my symptoms and pain, that will lead me to the best outcome?"  For example, the treatment for low back pain (LBP) isn’t as easy as just being diagnosed as “low back pain”  Acute LBP has been shown to spontaneously resolve in 4-6 weeks, so if your treatment takes 4 weeks to get better, did the treatment really do anything?  So you can be treated with the standard care for your LBP with the normal 3x a week for 4 weeks with a (for example) $20 co-pay each visit, (and you may even better pay for the whole treatment if your insurance deductible is not met), receive exercise intervention only, slap on some E-stim that makes you feel good but does nothing to solve the problem, and at the end the treatment you received may not have even done anything. 

This is when evidence based practice comes in and can lead to a more accurate diagnosis, show better outcomes quicker, with less visits, and overall cost less money, getting you better in 4-6 visits instead of the standard 12.  Pursuit Physical Therapy offers one on one care, using evidenced based interventions, showing better outcomes than the standard.   Also Pursuit Physical Therapy is incentive based so if you only need a 30 minute treatment, that is what you get.  30-60 minute treatments for 4 visits and you are done.  The standard is insurance based and the longer you stay and the more times you are seen, the more productive they are.  The standard is usually 3 x a week for 4 weeks.   If a clinician has an intervention that can get you better quicker with better outcomes, don’t they owe it to you to provide this treatment? YES!   If you have pain that is stopping you from doing something you love to do, don’t wait for the pain to go away.  Call Pursuit Physical Therapy to see if physical therapy is appropriate for you, can get pain free sooner!