Becoming an information master: using POEMs to change practice with confidence. Patient-Oriented Evidence that Matters.

Today's physicians are faced with identifying, evaluating, and applying a huge quantity of medical information. In addition, many stakeholders in health care, from patients to payers, are taking an active role in the previously inviolable process of physician decision making. This is the third paper in a series discussing the concept of information mastery. In the first paper we discussed using the criteria for Patient-Oriented Evidence that Matters (POEMs) to distill clinically relevant information. The second paper in the series focused on techniques for efficiently obtaining this information from the myriad resources available. In this paper we discuss the final step in the process, changing practice habits after finding new information that necessitates it. We discuss managing change, consider barriers, and present ideas to help with the process.