Improving the Use of Evidence-Based Medicine: A Conversation with Dr. Todd Feinman (June 21st)

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 A 2012 National Academy of Sciences (Institute of Medicine) study titled, "Best Care and Lower Cost," found about one quarter of all medical spending is wasted, much of this excessive spending going to pay for treatments that are of unknown effectiveness.   With medical spending now accounting  for one-sixth of the nation's GDP, or over $3 trillion annually, how do we limit spending to treatments that are proven effective or are of high value.  How do we increase the use of evidence-based medicine.  While this issue or problem has been, or is being, addressed by several federal health care agencies including the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and the the ACA-created Patient Centered Outcomes and Research Institute (PCORI), progress has been frustratingly slow.   (For example, a day prior to this interview a Health Affairs blog post discussed the persistent use, despite clinical evidence to the contrary, of pre-cataract surgery blood analysis and EKG testing.)      

During this 23-minute conversation Dr. Feinman discusses how his background as a hospitalist led to his co-founding Doctor Evidence, what explains the variation in the use of evidence based medicine, how Doctor Evidence is working to improve the timely collection, dissemination and use of evidence-based medicine, how his work is related to the Cochrane Collaborative, and how work by Doctor Evidence can influence quality measurement and drive or improve health care value, or patient outcomes achieved relative to spending. 

Dr. Todd Feinman is the Chief Medical Officer and co-founder of Doctor Evidence where he works to create evidence technologies that will lead to improved care, better health care outcomes, greater patient satisfaction and reduced spending growth.  Among other partnerships, Doctor Evidence works with the USC Center of Body Computing and with several medical associations and pharmaceutical companies.  Dr. Feinman began his career as a hospitalist, developing the first such programs in Southern California.   He is a board certified internist.   Dr. Feinman earned his medical degree at UCLA's David Geffen School of Medicine and did his residency work at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and at Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena. 

For information on the firm Doctor Evidence go to: http://drevidence.com.

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