Clinical effectiveness: what does it mean for practitioners - and cats?

PRACTICAL RELEVANCE: Optimising the clinical outcome for the cases we treat has to be of primary importance to every practitioner wherever they are working and whatever their sphere of practice, yet it requires much more than just clinical knowledge. This review discusses how a system of good clinical governance can help to achieve this goal. It focuses on clinical effectiveness, which in part involves the application of evidence-based veterinary medicine to formulate protocols or guidelines to help standardise and improve the quality of care given. BENEFITS: Once such guidance is in place, the measurement of clinical outcomes using the process of clinical audit can be of great assistance in ensuring that best practice is effectively applied. Both the theory and practical application of the so-called 'clinical audit cycle' within feline practice are illustrated in this review. PREREQUISITES: The use of such clinical management tools requires development of the necessary skills and protected time to apply them, but, as discussed, they can bring a broad range of benefits to the practice and its patients. Copyright 2010. Published by Elsevier Ltd.