AHRQ-Funded Researchers Propose Ways To Close the Evidence-to-Practice Gap

Learning health systems and researchers can help close the gap between research and practice by integrating evidence in systematic reviews with local health system data, according to a AHRQ-funded article. Researchers writing in the Journal of General Internal Medicineproposed narrowing the evidence-to-practice gap by integrating learning health system results with existing systematic review evidence and providing this combined evidence in a standardized, computable data format. They concluded that these efforts will inform practice, improving both individual and population health. Access the abstract.

2018 Aug 28. doi: 10.1007/s11606-018-4633-1. [Epub ahead of print]

Mind the Gap: Putting Evidence into Practice in the Era of Learning Health Systems.

Guise JM1,2, Savitz LA3, Friedman CP4.

Author information

Abstract

Due to the increasing amount of available published evidence and the continual need to apply and update evidence in practice, we propose a shift in the way evidence generated by learning health systems can be integrated into more traditional evidence reviews. This paper discusses two main mechanisms to close the evidence-to-practice gap: (1) integrating Learning Health System (LHS) results with existing systematic review evidence and (2) providing this combined evidence in a standardized, computable data format. We believe these efforts will better inform practice, thereby improving individual and population health.