📋 Current Practice

Current practice refers to the standard procedures, protocols, or approaches commonly used in clinical care, diagnosis, or treatment at a given time, based on prevailing guidelines, evidence, and expert consensus.

• Reflects the established norms within a medical specialty.
• Often based on clinical guidelines, systematic reviews, and consensus statements.
• May vary by region, institution, or resource availability.
• Evolves over time as new evidence or technologies emerge.

• Serves as the baseline for evaluating new interventions.
• Helps determine whether a study’s findings are clinically impactful.
• Research that merely confirms current practice may be seen as low value unless it improves safety, cost, or implementation.

• Clearly state the current standard when proposing alternatives.
• Compare new methods or tools against current practice, not against outdated or unrealistic controls.