What are the primary advantages of the PURLs vs the POEMs?
The primary advantages of the PURLs are that the more stringent criteria leads to identification only of those research studies that lead to a change in practice. The primary advantage of the POEMs is that they include many studies of interest to family medicine and primary care practice, including ones that support or confirm current practice, provide more depth information about a specific practice or clarify why the findings of a research study may not justify a change in practice. In this way, the PURLs and the POEMs are complementary. PURLs identify practice-changing research; POEMs identify research that is relevant, whether it leads to a change in practice or not. POEMs also summarize relevant new guidelines.
