Usual care control arms may enhance generalizability while introducing significant
limitations. Potential solutions include the use of pretrial surveys to evaluate the extent to …

Changing clinical practice is sometimes as difficult as the basic science and clinical trials
work that led to the discovery of beneficial therapies. Investigators are now beginning to …

The conceptual framework that guides improvement science as a unique discipline was
born in the automobile industry9 and has gained momentum in health care as a result of the …

In this issue, the section on outcomes research in critical care focuses on the three
interrelated topics:(1) practice variation,(2) the relationship between practice variation and …

Abstract Background Healthcare Audit and Feedback (A&F) interventions have been shown
to be an effective means of changing healthcare professional behavior, but work is required …

A depressing truism of modern healthcare is that clinicians routinely fail deliver evidence-
based treatments proven to save lives [1]. In the ICU, a growing body of literature …

Comparative effectiveness research can help guide the use of common, routine medical
practices. However, to be safe and informative, such trials must include at least one …

Guidelines, protocols, and checklists (together called “protocols”) can be immensely helpful
in the clinical arena. However, clinicians and health care systems relying on protocols must …

We discuss the pros and cons of including usual care as a control arm in clinical trials of
nonpharmacologic interventions. Usual care is a term used to describe the full spectrum of …

One question that often arises when making evidence-based practice (EBP) changes is
what outcomes should be measured to determine whether an innovation results in improved …