After implementing evidence-based practice, it's important to monitor and evaluate any changes in outcomes so that positive effects can be supported and negative ones remedied. Just because an intervention was effective in a rigorously controlled trial doesn't mean it will work exactly the same way in the clinical setting. Monitoring the effect of an evidence-based change on health care quality and outcomes can help clinicians spot flaws in implementation and identify more precisely which patients are most likely to benefit. When results differ from those reported in the research literature, monitoring can help determine why.

Clinicians can achieve wonderful outcomes for their patients through evidence-based practice, but they often fail to share their experiences with colleagues and their own or other health care organizations. This leads to needless duplication of effort, and perpetuates clinical approaches that are not evidence based. Among ways to disseminate successful initiatives are evidence-based practice rounds in your institution, presentations at local, regional, and national conferences, and reports in peer-reviewed journals, professional newsletters, and publications for general audiences.

From: The Seven Steps of Evidence-Based Practice