EBM is under attack. The Trump administration has signaled it will de-regulate the FDA, lowering the current threshold of safety & efficacy. This may bring us closer to the pharmaceutical disasters of the past: the children of Thalidomide, snake oil salesmen selling heal-all elixirs, Bayer’s invention & marketing of Heroin as a non-addictive cough suppressant, and more. They will argue higher FDA thresholds increase cost, while we know more evidence actually reduces cost – up to $1 Trillion per year1.

And us academics have become lazy. This week a third-year EM resident told me LOC is an absolute indication for a head CT. I pimped him on the Canadian CT Head Rule (CCHR), he seemed confused, looked it up, and then argued “well these tools always miss things so I don’t use them” [many tools do miss a few and yet are still useful, but CCHR essentially does not miss any, with the CCHR major criteria ~100% sensitive for ruling out need for intervention].

We can do better.

But there’s good news. EBM has also BLOSSOMED in this time. Three short years ago, MDCalc had ~80 calculators and was used regularly by 15% of physicians. Today we have 275+, and are used regularly by over 50% of U.S. docs. It’s an incredible time to be part of the EBM movement – and is what keeps us all working hard at MDCalc

So, we’re so proud to announce our first-ever MDCalc for Android App. Some features include:

  • 275+ calcs (and growing)
  • The patented Advanced Search allows you to discover calcs you’ve never used before
  • Insights from Calc Creators themselves! (Stiell, Wells, Kline, Kuppermann, etc)
  • Expert content describes how best to use, next steps, synopsis of evidence, more
  • Works offline; autosyncs when online.
  • Customizable lists for quick access: favorites, recently used, your specialty

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Help support the MDCalc mission!

  • Spread the word! The more docs use our free apps, the more we’re able to support.
  • Know your hospital’s CMIO? Help setup a pilot EHR integration!
  • EBM enthusiastic? Contribute through writing or peer reviewing our original content!
  • Blogger / opinion writer? Write for “Paging MDCalc”, our new discussion platform.

Email me: [email protected]

Joe Habboushe, MD MBA
Cofounder & CEO, MDCalc

1 Harvard Business Review – https://hbr.org/2015/10/how-the-u-s-can-reduce-waste-in-health-care-spending-by-1-trillion