The JMLA July 2010 issue has an editorial, "It was the worst of times,
it was the best of times: positive trends influencing hospital
libraries" The article mentions Obama's Comparative Effectiveness
Research (CER).  

This sent me to the internet where I pulled up a New York Times, Feb 16,
2009 article, "U.S. to Compare Medical Treatments".

The article says that money would be used for systematic reviews and
some for clinical trials to compare treatments. 

It also says, "The new research will eventually save money and lives."
In addition, that where in the past the government had focused on safety
and effectiveness of treatment, now it was going to compare treatments
to see which ones were better. Another focus will  be on saving money by
shedding light on unnecessary costly treatments.

 

Some doctors have been reluctant to consult the medical literature,
believing that evidence-based practice is a cookie cutter way to
practice. Other doctors don't have time to search, and find the
searching too confusing, thus the big appeal for UpToDate. 

It is also interesting that the CER generated fear that doctors and
patients would be dictated to by the government regarding treatments.
All the more reason for a doctor to call on the librarian to pull up
literature to support his choice of treatment. 

Interestingly, medical librarians have been saying these words to
administrators for years. CER underlines the fact that the literature is
out there, but what's been missing is the ability to get to it.

Could all of this be a sounding bell for hospitals to reinstate
libraries and knowledgeable MLS degreed librarians?

 

Liz

 

Elizabeth Burns, MLS

Library Director

VA Medical Center

4801 Linwood Blvd.

Kansas City, Mo. 64128

MOUMVK

816-922-2315

816-922-3340 fax

[log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]> 

 

"Not everything that can be counted counts and not everything that
counts can be counted." Albert Einstein