Skip to page content

Evidence Based Health Practice

Evidence-based health practice applies the scientific method to use the best available evidence—from physical exams, diagnostic reviews, medical research, and known risks and benefits of treatment options—when making medical decisions. RAND has investigated the impact of adopting evidence-based health practices on patient care and health care policies, and the greater implications of using a national quality measurement and reporting system.

Journal Article
Teaching Systems-Based Practice to Primary Care Physicians to Foster Routine Implementation of Evidence-Based Depression Care
The authors believe the best way to enhance effectiveness is to build education into the system rather than rely on a separate system for education.
Jan 1, 2007
Journal Article
Evidence Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Promises and Problems
The present paper examines the experience of establishing a center for evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine (EBCAM) practice.
Jan 1, 2007
Journal Article
Putting the Practice Into Evidence-Based Dentistry and Health Services Research
For dentistry to enter into the new world of evidence-based practice, it will require some rethinking of the research enterprise in the profession.
Jan 1, 2007
Journal Article
Estimating the Potential Impact of Regionalizing Health Care Delivery Based on Volume Standards Versus Risk-Adjusted Mortality Rate
Whether basing regionalization on risk-adjusted mortality would lead to better population outcomes than basing regionalization on procedure volume.
Jan 1, 2007
Journal Article
Diagnostic Tests Used in the Investigation of Adult Haematuria: A Systematic Review
Haematuria can be a symptom of serious underlying pathology (e.g. urological malignancy), but also has many benign causes (e.g. vigorous exercise).
Dec 1, 2006
News Release
RAND Study Finds No Link Between Consuming Omega-3 Fatty Acids and Lower Incidence of Cancer
Consuming food or dietary supplements such as fish oil that contain omega-3 fatty acids provides no protection against developing cancer.
Jan 24, 2006
Journal Article
Application of Explicit Process of Care Measurement to Rheumatoid Arthritis: Moving from Evidence to Practice
The authors conducted a prospective cohort study of rates of change in disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD) and/or systemic corticosteroid drug or dose for 568 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) across 6,159 clinical encounters within 12 months to examine how changes in clinical specifications change adherence.
Jan 1, 2006
Journal Article
Results of the National Initiative for Cancer Care Quality: How Can We Improve the Quality of Cancer Care in the United States?
Initial management of patients with breast and colorectal cancer in the United States seemed consistent with evidence-based practice.
Jan 1, 2006
Journal Article
Impacts of Evidence-Based Quality Improvement on Depression in Primary Care: A Randomized Experiment
The modest improvements, along with qualitative data, identify potential future directions for improving CGI research and practice.
Jan 1, 2006
Journal Article
Aligning Measurement-Based Quality Improvement with Implementation of Evidence-Based Practices
Two models for improving quality of care have been adopted by segments of the US mental healthcare system.
Jan 1, 2006
Research Brief
Some Prescription Diet Drugs Promote Weight Loss
To assess the effectiveness and safety of prescription weight-loss medications, researchers at the Southern California Evidence-Based Practice Center analyzed 78 published studies of the most popular diet drugs.
Nov 25, 2005
Report
Analysis of Healthcare Interventions that Change Patient Trajectories
Examines interventions in the healthcare system that use Electronic Medical Record Systems (EMR-S) to affect patient trajectories -- i.e., the sequence of encounters a patient has with the healthcare system.
Sep 12, 2005
Journal Article
Effects of Omega-3 Fatty Acids on Cancer
The authors assess the effect of omega-3 fatty acids on 1) tumor incidence 2) clinical outcomes after cancer treatment, and 3) tumor behavior.
Jan 1, 2005
Journal Article
A Guide to This Supplement
Over the past decade, EPCs accumulated a wealth of knowledge about conducting systematic reviews and compiling evidence reports.
Jan 1, 2005
Report
Organizational Improvement and Accountability: Lessons for Education from Other Sectors
Describes accountability models in the manufacturing, job training, legal, and health care sectors; summarizes their effectiveness; and draws specific lessons for educators.
May 2, 2004
Journal Article
Observational Studies and Evidence-Based Practice: Can't Live with Them, Can't Live Without Them
Generally, there are several major problems with the use of observational studies in systematic reviews of evidence for a treatment procedure.
Mar 1, 2003
Report
Chronic Disease Self Management for Diabetes, Osteoarthritis, Post-Myocardial Infarction Care, and Hypertension
Investigates the characteristics particular to chronic disease self-management programs that may be most responsible for their effectiveness.
Jan 1, 2003
Report
Exercise Programs for Older Adults Help Reduce Falls
The strongest beneficial effect of exercise for the elderly is in fall reduction. Physical activity also modestly to moderately improved strength and cardiovascular performance among previously sedentary older people.
Jan 1, 2003
Report
Falls Prevention Interventions in the Medicare Population
Reviews the effectiveness of interventions that can be used to prevent falls among persons age 65 or older.
Jan 1, 2003
Report
Health Risk Appraisals and Medicare
Reviews the effectiveness of Health Risk Appraisals among the Medicare population for a number of variables, including exercise habits, use of cancer screenings, blood pressure and cholesterol levels, health status, and psychological state.
Jan 1, 2003

Previous
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
Next

RAND Topic:
Evidence Based Health Practice

Topic Synonyms:
EBP;
Evidence-Based Practice

Research conducted by

Researcher Spotlight

Carl Berdahl

Affiliated Adjunct Physician Policy Researcher

Carl Berdahl (he/him) is an affiliated adjunct physician policy researcher at the RAND Corporation. Also an emergency physician and health services researcher at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, his primary research objective is to improve the quality and safety of emergency care by designing better…
Joachim O. Hero

Associate Policy Researcher

Joachim O. Hero is an associate policy researcher at the RAND Corporation. He applies frameworks and methods in quantitative survey research, systematic literature review, and policy analysis to study topics in health care and public health. In health care his research has covered issues in…

Explore Our People »