Sometimes when we suggest that we standardize processes in healthcare, there are people who are concerned that standardizing care is “cookbook medicine” and that we are dumbing things down in the care of patients. People get concerned that standardization takes away the “art” of medicine.
But consider this. If there really are proven ways to treat patients for certain diseases, wouldn’t we want to make sure they got that care every time? So is the “art” of medicine really about the treatment, or might it be more about the diagnosis. If you are sure that someone is having a heart attack, they’re really ins’t any “art” about the treatment. But there is “art” about whether someone is really having a heart attack because there are disease that mimic an MI. So if we are sure about what a disease is, maybe there really isn’t much “art” left and maybe there is just the need to be absolutely certain that the patient gets the standard of care in a standard format.
So what kind of things might we start to standardize?
This first picture shows a kit that helps make certain that the maintenance of central line care is exactly the same every time and that the key steps of care always occur.
This next picture shows how the standard placement of code cart medications improves the ability of a code team to deliver care.
This last picture shows how a standard order set might ensure that when people have a specific diagnosis and there is an evidence-based treatment for that diagnosis, we can use our electronic health records to deliver that evidence-based care. This orderset ensures that patients with a specific pneumonia diagnosis, gets the same care every time. Further, it can be updated based on local medication sensitivities or new medications that are developed.
