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Free EBM Content? Here’s Where!

Last month’s story about the fall of EBM content received a huge response from readers heralding the “end of endless searching for EBM content” and a “new era of focus on process and content management” in healthcare. Some of you have asked where free EBM resources can be found and others have offered up suggestions for useful EBM content. Based on your requests and recommendations, we have pulled together this list of more than 30 EBM content resources that are available for use in your quality improvement efforts for little or no cost. These resources serve as a great foundation for bringing EBM to the point of care.

NATIONAL RESOURCES

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
http://www.ahrq.gov/clinic/

Clinical Practice Guidelines
http://www.ahrq.gov/clinic/cpgsix.htm

Evidence-based Practice
http://www.ahrq.gov/clinic/epcix.htm

National Quality Measures Clearinghouse
www.qualitymeasures.ahrq.gov

Quality Tools
http://www.qualitytools.ahrq.gov/

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Infectious Disease Guidelines
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/guidelines/guidelines_date.htm

ClinicalTrials.gov
http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/

Institute for Clinical Systems Improvement
www.icsi.org/knowledge

EBM Guidelines
http://www.icsi.org/knowledge/browse_bydate.asp?catID=29

Healthcare Protocols
http://www.icsi.org/knowledge/browse_bydate.asp?catID=239

Order Sets
http://www.icsi.org/knowledge/browse_bydate.asp?catID=178

Lee Memorial Health System
Physician Order Sets
www.leememorial.org/physicianpub/ordersets/os-index.asp

National Cancer Institute
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/cancerdatabase

National Institutes of Health (NIH) Consensus Development Program
http://consensus.nih.gov/

National Guideline Clearinghouse
www.guideline.gov

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)
Clinical Practice Guidelines
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/guidelines/index.htm

National Library of Medicine
Clinical Alerts and Advisories
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/databases/alerts/clinical_alerts.html

Health Services/Technology Assessment Text (HSTAT)
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/bv.fcgi?rid=hstat

PubMed
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?DB=pubmed

Clinical Queries
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query/static/clinical.shtml

Vanderbilt Center for Evidence-Based Medicine
http://ebm.vanderbilt.edu/

EBM Guidelines
http://ebm.vanderbilt.edu/guidelines.htm

OTHER RESOURCES

American College of Physicians (ACP) Journal Club
http://www.acpjc.org/shared/search.htm

British Medical Journal Guidelines
http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/collection/guidelines

Center Watch (Clinical Trials Listings)
http://www.centerwatch.com/patient/trials.html

Centre for Health Evidence (Users’ Guides to Evidence-Based Practice) http://www.cche.net/usersguides/main.asp

Duke University Medical Center Library
http://www.mclibrary.duke.edu/subject/ebm?tab=overview

Free Online Journals
http://library.umassmed.edu/ejournalsFaction.cfm

Free Online Textbooks
http://library.umassmed.edu/ebooks.cfm

National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE)
http://www.nice.org.uk/

Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN)
http://www.sign.ac.uk/guidelines/published/numlist.html

The Cochrane Library
http://www.cochrane.org/reviews/clibintro.htm

The Joanna Briggs Institute
http://www.joannabriggs.edu.au/pubs/best_practice.php

From this list, it is easy to tell that there is no lack of EBM content available. The real challenges are getting that information into the hands of the professionals who need it, managing the standardization process, getting physician buy-in, and promoting a systematic approach to quality improvement. Collaboration tools and technologies are key in ensuring the success of evidence-based quality improvement initiatives.