4 Ways to Make Evidence-Based Practice the Norm in Health Care

It takes hospitals and clinics about 17 years to adopt a practice or treatment after the first systematic evidence shows it helps patients. Why such a long delay when patient health is on the line? Part of it is the challenge of adapting practices to fit the environment. Attempting to simply “plug in” a new practice often meets resistance from care providers. But deviating from the evidence-base can weaken the effectiveness of the practice and lessen the benefits. So leaders have to balance two conflicting needs: to adhere to standards and to customize for the local context. Researcher of organizational change suggest four approaches to help health care leaders adapt evidence-based practices while staying close to the foundational evidence. These approaches are based on an organization’s 1) data; 2) resources; 3) goals; and 4) preferences.