Where in the World Is Evidence-Based Practice?

When the Affordable Care Act was passed, it came with a requirement of empirical evidence. Research on EBP increased significantly. Application of EBP spread to allied health professions, education, healthcare technology, and more. Health organizations began to adopt and promote EBP.

In this Discussion, you will consider this adoption. You will examine healthcare organization websites and analyze to what extent these organizations use EBP.

To Prepare:

1. Review the Resources and reflect on the definition and goal of EBP.

2. Choose a professional healthcare organization’s website (e.g., a reimbursing body, an accredited body, or a national initiative).

3. Explore the website to determine where and to what extent EBP is evident.

Post a description of the healthcare organization website you reviewed. Describe where, if at all, EBP appears (e.g., the mission, vision, philosophy, and/or goals of the healthcare organization, or in other locations on the website). Then, explain whether this healthcare organization’s work is grounded in EBP and why or why not. Finally, explain whether the information you discovered on the healthcare organization’s website has changed your perception of the healthcare organization. Be specific and provide examples.

Example Paper

According to Melnyk, in order to implement evidence-based practice (EBP) consistently one must cultivate a spirit of inquiry, ask clinical questions, search for the best evidence, appraise the evidence, implement the evidence, evaluate outcomes, and then lastly share the results (Melnyk, 2010). This step by step process is very evident in the organization I chose to explore.

The organization that I chose to focus on is referred as the Center for Evidence and Practice Improvement (CEPI). CEPI, “conducts and supports research and evidence synthesis on health care delivery and improvement; advances decision and communication sciences to facilitate informed treatment and health care decision making by patients and their health care providers; explores how health information technology can improve clinical decision making and health care quality; catalyzes and promotes sustainability of improvements in clinical practice across health care settings through research, demonstration projects, and partnership development; and operates the National Center for Excellence in Primary Care Research (CEPI, 2014).”

CEPI consists of five divisions:

1. Evidence-Based Practice Center Program

2. U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Program

3. Division of Decision Science and Patient Engagement

4. Division of Health Information Technology

5. Division of Practice Improvement

CEPI is also home to AHRQ’s National Center for Excellence in Primary Care Research (NCEPCR). This organization is grounded in EBP and has made me appreciate the organization for what it is and what it stands for.

References

Center for Evidence and Practice Improvement (CEPI). (2014, July 15). Content last reviewed January 2017. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. Retrived May 26, 2019. http://www.ahrq.gov/cpi/centers/cepi/index.html

Melnyk, B. M., Fineout-Overholt, E., Stillwell, S. B., & Williamson, K. M. (2010). Evidence-based practice: Step by step. The seven steps of evidence-based practice. American Journal of Nursing, 110(1), 51–53. doi:10.1097/01.NAJ.0000366056.06605.d2. Retrieved from http://download.lww.com/wolterskluwer_vitalstream_com/PermaLink/NCNJ/A/NCNJ_16