This process of developing EBM-based guidelines and applying them to clinical care highlights the tension between generating unbiased knowledge based on statistical aggregation and the application of this information to individual patients.
To succeed in accountable care organizations, physicians will need to learn to emphasize collaboration rather than authority, keep costs in mind, and encourage patients to plan in advance for palliative care and death.
By studying both basic economic theory and the social and philosophical values that underpin medical decision making, medical students will be prepared to make better resource allocation decisions.
Though conservative management can be perceived as withholding care, sometimes it is in the patient's, not just the hospital's or clinic's, best interest.
A commentary exploring a physician's role in educating patients about hospital safety and expertise when negative media coverage presents possible misleading information.