M3 Practice Based Learning and Improvement Presentation Guide: Steps 2 & 3

• Is the request patient specific or general?
• If patient specific- what is patient’s diagnosis?  Pertinent medical information? Demographic information?
• Is the question being asked by true requestor or an intermediary for the patient? 

A background question is a general question about a patient population (patients with type II diabetes) rather about a specific patient.

Things to consider:

• Are there times where this treatment or medication should be contraindicated?
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• Most often the original question asked is NOT the most effective way of finding the answer needed/wanted.
• If adequate background information is obtained, the ultimate question is usually formed
• Once ultimate question is formed, confirm this with requestor (if possible) to avoid conflict with response.
• Use PP-ICO to create your question!

P – patient/population

P - problem

I - intervention

C - comparison

O - outcome

An example of a clinical question for this scenario would be:

• Does garlic (I) lower total cholesterol (O) in 50 year old Caucasian males (P) compared to placebo or standard of care(C)?

Clinical Question:

Does garlic (I) lower total cholesterol (O) in 50-year old Caucasian males (P) compared to placebo or standard of care(C)?