Healthcare decision makers have the difficult task of making the choices that define our healthcare policies and practices. These decisions are never taken lightly and choices should always be backed by copious evidence. An economic evaluation (EE) is commonly used in...
The audit trail: a digital trail of cookie crumbs that effectively illustrates the path taken to get to where you currently are. In a literature review, an audit trail is a relatively new concept in the grand scheme of things. Older literature review methods, like...
Artificial intelligence in systematic reviews is undoubtedly the way of the future. With an overwhelming amount of data powering today's evidence-based research, it's becoming more difficult for researchers to keep up with the amount of manual work required to manage...
The demand for evidence-based research is reaching a tipping point. Across almost all industries, the need for clear and concise evidence is starting to overwhelm the researchers whose job it is to find it. Systematic reviews (SRs) are still widely considered to be...
*This post was updated in April 2020 to reflect the postponement of the EU MDR deadline. The EU MDR deadline has been extended to May 26, 2021, but you’ve probably been working overtime to make sure your medical device meets the new compliance standards. But what...
For some, the hesitation to trust artificial intelligence (AI) in systematic reviews comes from not fully understanding the technology that powers it. For example, when we say DistillerSR uses “natural language processing,” what does that really mean in practical...
Products in the medical industry that were made before applicable standards or regulations came into effect are known as legacy products or grandfathered products. Since these products pre-date specific directives, they are often exempt from meeting the new...
Imagine 25 years ago. You are working on a systematic review. You are making hard copies of reports and studies, manually highlighting the relevant information, filing included studies in a cabinet and moving the excluded studies elsewhere. Your eyes are strained,...
What sneaks up faster than the May 2020 EU MDR deadline? The holidays, of course! If you’re stumped on what to get the researcher or academic in your life, or if you are a researcher whose family and friends keep asking for your wish list, you’re in luck! We polled...
Many industries that undertake policy and guideline creation perform some type of risk assessment. It could be identifying and quantifying specific risks relating to a company and its stakeholders, or a broader mandate to assess risk and harm in the general...