Is Evidence‐Based Medicine Patient‐Centered and Is Patient‐Centered Care Evidence‐Based?

Is Evidence-Based Medicine Patient-Centered and Is Patient-Centered Care Evidence-Based? Are achieving evidence-based medicine (EBM) and cultural competence in medicine (CCM) contradictory goals? In some ways, EBM and CCM are complementary means to improve quality; but it can also appear that, by virtue of their methods of changing medical practice, they are fundamentally at odds. Yet each is an important area for exploration in health services research and both are evolving from marginal to mainstream considerations in changing health policy and as potential strategies to improve quality. It is, therefore, critical that we understand how and when these emerging subfields might be perceived as conflicting and when they can work together.