Evidence Based Practice

Evidence based practice is the integration of the best research evidence, clinical experience, patients’ values/preferences, and resources into comprehensive clinical standards that improve the quality and safety of patient care.

Through the use of evidence based clinical standards, healthcare providers are able to improve standardization and reduce variation which in turn leads to higher quality patient outcomes than practice based on tradition alone.

These evidence based guidelines noted below have been developed through the use of the GRADE methodology (Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation). The GRADE methodology is a transparent process, developed by a widely representative group of international guideline developers, in which the quality of evidence is reviewed and critically appraised by a content expert team. The GRADE methodology provides a clear distinction between the quality of evidence and the strength of the recommendation by allowing patient values and preferences, resource utilization, and risk to benefit to be considered. A panel of subject matter experts use all of this information as a basis for clinical recommendations. Areas in which evidence may be lacking, recommendations are made based on a consensus agreement between subject matter experts.