Ethical questions have no seemingly right or wrong answers and rarely can be researched effectively. Other techniques might be helpful when research cannot answer the question. Cost-benefit analysis often provides helpful information about how effective a particular intervention is related to its cost. Root cause analysis is used when a sentinel event occurs. Program evaluation allows clinicians to systematically evaluate patient care in an organized way and document the benefit of health-related programs.
Policy analysis provides a framework to understand various competing positions on an issue.
These strategies have specific designs and methods that help clinicians examine issues that are not amenable to research. If these approaches are not appropriate for solving the specific clinical problem, it is important to examine other clinical data that might exist. For example, when questions relate to nosocomial infections the best data source may be the infection control department. If questions relate to quality of care, the quality management department may track infection information. People often forget about information their institutions can provide.