Evidence-Based Practice  

Definition: Evidence-based practice is the process by which health care providers incorporate the best research or evidence into clinical practice in combination with clinical expertise and within the context of patient values.

Description: Evidence-based practice evolved out of an explosion of scientific literature and new techniques, medications, and technologies. Medical facilities were faced with rising medical costs and increased litigation, and consumers were calling for accountability in medicine. The medical profession began to seek new ways to insure quality control of medical care. Basing medical procedures and practices on sound research became the means to find the best philosophical, legal, and practical fit for medical institutions and individual patients.

From:  Franz, J. F. (2006). Evidence-based practice. In J. L. Longe (Ed.), The Gale encyclopedia of nursing and allied health (2nd ed., Vol. 2, pp. 996-999). Detroit: Gale. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com.libdbmjc.yosemite.edu/