June 30, 2022 – American doctors today are the beneficiaries of remarkable medical progress, driven by decades of world-leading research and computerized data analytics.
Thanks to these advancements, physicians can avail themselves of scientifically proven and optimized approaches for 95% of medical problems. When followed rigorously, these approaches give doctors the best chance at successfully solving a patient’s problem. This is referred to in healthcare as evidence-based medicine.
Research has shown that if every physician followed these algorithmic, science-based protocols every time, Americans would live healthier, longer lives and experience fewer complications from both acute and chronic disease.
Yet, all too often, doctors dismiss the data, preferring an outdated and unreliable approach to medical decision-making. This article, the fifth in a series called “Breaking the Rules of Healthcare,” explores an unwritten rule, which doctors have followed for centuries.