Friday, June 11, 2010

Over utilization driven by what the public wants

From a study published in Health Affairs:

We found many of these consumers’ beliefs, values, and knowledge to be at odds with what policy makers prescribe as evidence-based health care. Few consumers understood terms such as "medical evidence" or "quality guidelines." Most believed that more care meant higher-quality, better care. The gaps in knowledge and misconceptions point to serious challenges in engaging consumers in evidence-based decision making.

Well, then, Donald Berwick is right. Under his radical consumerist view of health care EBM will have to take a back seat.

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