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3 reasons credibility matters in the healthcare sector

September 16, 2019

When a patient goes to see a medical professional, they're trusting that the physician uses up-to-date and well-sourced information to prescribe the right treatment.

In recent years, though, keeping up with current medical research has presented a challenge for today's medical professionals. In addition to a rapid rise in the number of available medical journals and publications, there is also information being circulated by healthcare advertisers and other organizations.

In the current healthcare sector, medical professionals must ensure that they are using reliable and credible sources for information, and there are a few critical reasons why this is so important:

1) The number of available publications is on the rise - and not all are trustworthy

As noted in a recent white paper published by Elsevier, "Where Credibility Goes, Doctors Follow," over recent years, there has been a significant rise in the number of medical journals, not only in print, but particularly online and through other digital channels. There are different factors at play here leading to this rise in medical information, including higher demands for current research on the part of healthcare professionals and consumers. In addition, as content marketing practices increase, this adds to the sheer amount of healthcare-targeted information available.

Image removed.With so many medical journals available in print and online, healthcare professionals must ensure they consult trusted informational sources.

However, as the white paper pointed out, not all of these journals are credible. In fact, a 2017 FTC ruling found that one publishing group was operating hundreds of online journals that did not provide reliable research, but instead functioned as a pay-to-publish site that sought to gain readership through email solicitation. This is just one example of an online journal that misrepresented itself, and could potentially mislead health professionals.

2) Healthcare professionals have limited time

Compounding the issue of unreliable sources is the fact that today's health professionals must keep up on current medical processes and practices, but they have limited time throughout their day to do so. According to the white paper, one study found that about half of doctors' time is spent on administrative or electronic health record-related work, and only about one-third of their time is spent with patients.

This leaves very limited time periods to delve into emerging industry research, and when physicians or other healthcare workers do have time to expand their knowledge, they must be sure that they are using credible sources and information to do so.

"Even with time at a premium, the majority of doctors still believe that staying current on medical advances is important, but with the rapid expansion of medical knowledge, doctors need to turn to trusted sources of information," white paper authors noted.

3) Credible, unbiased information supports top-tier healthcare services

Although the ability of physicians and healthcare providers to stay up-to-date on current medical practices is critical, access to reliable and credible data is also beneficial for patients. When healthcare professionals are armed with the latest knowledge and research, they are able to deliver the highest quality care possible to their patients.

According to research from the Evidence-Based Spine-Care Journal, published by the National Institutes of Health U.S. National Library of Medicine, the healthcare industry is making considerable strides to reduce biases in research, particularly when it comes to data verification and study result reporting.

"Empirical evidence of outcome reporting bias (particularly related to treatment harms) over the past decade has led to a call for the registration of clinical trials and publication of protocols prior to trial completion to ensure transparency," author Andrea Skelly wrote.  "Study credibility is at stake, even if [the study] is not an RCT [random controlled trial]."

As the healthcare industry increasingly works to ensure access to more credible and reliable research, it's important for professionals to use trusted information sources. Check out our whitepaper, "Where Credibility Goes, Doctors Follow," to gain more insights.

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