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| Applying
clinical pathways have led to shorter length of stay for our
patients. |
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At the invitation
of Changi General Hospital, Professor James Petrie, an eminent proponent
on the application of Evidence Based Medicine (EBM) in clinical
practice guidelines, talked on "Is Evidence-Based Medicine
Protocol Medicine?" Prof Petrie is the President of the Royal
College of Physicians of Edinburgh, UK. He is a member of the WHO
Expert Advisory Panel on drug policies and management, and chairs
a Council of Europe expert working group on developing best practices
on the development of Clinical Practice Guidelines.
Addressing the
audience largely made up of medical doctors, nurses and medical
administrators, Prof Petrie discussed how EBM could be applied in
the development of clinical practice guidelines or protocols. He
felt that with the litany of medical information bombarding doctors
and patients daily, it is necessary for doctors to assess the medical
information critically and translate them into structured medical
protocols for the benefit of their patients. Such integration ultimately
leads to better patient care.
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| As
a strong proponent of EBM and clinical practice guidelines, CGH's
Chairman of Medical Board A/Prof Fock Kwong Ming has been instrumental
in its development and acceptance amongst doctors and nurses in CGH.
A/Prof Fock shared with the audience that CGH has already been integrating
EBM with clinical practice guidelines or pathways for the last few
years on a small scale. This has led to a systematic management of
some common clinical problems, using up-to-date therapy, thereby leading
to shorter length of stay and reduced investigative procedures for
our patients. With the strong endorsement by Prof Petrie, CGH looks
set to continue along this path to provide better medical care for
its patients. At present, CGH has 13 pathways currently in use. |
