State of Washington

...People are raving about your training...inspiring to our staff...I believe we brought the very best to them...

Mike and Sheri, I just wanted to thank you once again for the great job you did today, teaching our staff EBM assessment for validity and usefulness. You were inspiring to our staff. I just loved to see how attentive they were and to hear the great questions that were asked. They were getting your messages! Fantastic.

People are raving about your training. I just heard how professional that it was, that HRSA and the other agencies were presented in style and the staff really appreciated that. I believe they recognized that we brought the very best to them, showing that we value EBM and their work in this area.

Again, thanks so much. It was such a pleasure to work with you to make this day so special for our staff.
Siri

Siri Childs, Pharm D
Pharmacy Policy Office Chief
Department of Social & Health Services
Health & Recovery Services Administration
Division of Medical Benefits & Care Management
Medical Consulting & Pharmacy Policy Units
State of Washington

Doug Dammrose, MD
Senior Vice President & Medical Director,
Blue Cross of Idaho
Meridian, ID

...I fully support Delfini's approach...I believe it is the right way...I can highly recommend the Delfini faculty...

According to the Dartmouth Atlas Project, lumbar spine surgery is four times greater in Idaho than most areas of the country. Recently the Delfini Group conducted two evidence-based training sessions where Idaho spine surgeons actively participated in evaluating the evidence regarding surgery and other modalities for lumbar back pain and discussed ways to improve patient care in this area.

I believe the evidence-based approach used by Delfini is the right way to approach inappropriate variation in healthcare. I fully support Delfini’s step-wise approach to assessing medical technologies.

If we are to assure that our patients receive appropriate care, we as health care professionals must be able to search for and critically appraise the medical literature and commit to a statement about the quality of the evidence before making recommendations to others. Only then can we have informed discussions with our patients and colleagues about reasonable management strategies. One of the biggest problems in healthcare is that new diagnostic and therapeutic interventions are instituted without the support of good science.

I can highly recommend the Delfini faculty:

• They were extremely well-prepared and knowledgeable about applied EBM
  The lectures and exercises provided a comfortable, non-threatening environment and were well received by the spine surgeons.
• They are enthusiastic presenters, knowledgeable, and clearly dedicated to improving clinical care through the appropriate use of science.

Doug Dammrose, MD
Senior Vice President & Medical Director of Blue Cross of Idaho