Evidence-Based Medicine In The UK

Pharmaceutical companies are very slow in grasping that the growth of evidence-based medicine will mean that, in order to survive, they will have to evolve from product providers to suppliers of cost-effective services, according to Tony Felton, a general practitioner and advisor to Coopers & Lybrand.

Evidence-based medicine is about changing paradigms and mindsets, he told a meeting in London on fundholding in the UK National health service. NHS purchasing decisions are being driven more and more by cost-effectiveness outcomes rather than activities, he said, and while he noted the UK government's enthusiasm for evidence-based medicine, he queried if it fully realizes that its widespread adoption might well lead, in the short term, to increased health care costs. He warned the government that presenting evidence-based medicine as simply rationing wrapped up in an acceptable form will not work with the majority of doctors.

Patient Power Patients do not yet understand the power which they have to become involved with this new information, he said; in the USA, outcome data is being used as a marketing tool and best-practice protocols are now available on the Internet. These issues cannot be ignored; they must be managed and controlled, he said.