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The Importance of Medical
Protocols
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“I surround myself with a great bunch of
supportive, fun, caring and loving teammates
that ‘get it.’ We support each other very well
and ask for help when we need it. M*A*S*H
humor sometimes gets us through a lot of challenging times.”
Bishop’s colleague Maria Gore, MSW, Clinical Counselor, adds her tips:
“I
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“I go home and snuggle with my animals
and allow myself to shed the tears of the day in
their loving presence.”
•
“I ask for hugs from favorite people here
at work. I even seek them out when needed.
It’s usually a mutually beneficial hug.”
•
“I start my morning with a long walk
with my dog and spend time thinking about all
the things I am grateful for, even if it is just that
I am healthy and my dog is healthy enough to
be on this walk. For me, it’s a good way to start
the day grounded.”
That quote alone could be sufficient to explain
the importance of medical protocols. If not,
let’s look at what they are, why they are important, where you would use them in practice,
and how to create them.
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“On really hard days, I take time for a
real ‘break’ or lunch, perhaps walk outside for
fresh air. Even taking a 15-minute walk around
the neighborhood can provide a better perspective.”
•
“When I physically leave work, I also
emotionally leave work and find things to do
that will recharge me such as a Yoga class or a
massage.”
•
“I laugh and cry together with my work
team. Building a strong and supportive team
has to be one of the most significant ways we
can avoid burnout or compassion fatigue.”
As Bishop sums it up: “When we learn to first
care for ourselves, we're better able to care for
our clients and patients who rely on us.”
f you’re not consistent, you’re nonexistent” - Unknown
WHAT ARE MEDICAL PROTOCOLS?
If you cook a meal from scratch you use a
recipe. When you build a practice you use
blueprints. Before you take off on an airplane,
pilots go through a checklist. A medical protocol is a recipe, blueprint and checklist designed
to provide a consistent approach to diagnosing,
treating, communicating and invoicing for a
medical condition or medical service that you
provide. The goal of a protocol is consistency
in patient/client and practice management.
You could have protocols for puppy and kitten
visits; surgical procedures such as spaying or
neutering; limping dogs; vomiting cats; different levels of dental care; etc. A protocol is
NOT designed to remove the brain from the
doctor, quite the contrary, it is there to guide
the doctor and staff so as not to forget things
that should be done for the pet. Ever forget to
charge for a stone analysis and culture after a
cystotomy? You wouldn’t if you had a protocol. Ever forget to send home antibiotics with
an itchy dog with pyoderma? You wouldn’t if
you had a protocol. Ever forget to run a fecal
on a four-month-old puppy? You wouldn’t if
you had a protocol.
A protocol is a road map to get you from here
to there in an effective and efficient fashion by
providing the optimal route and with all of the
details about the route along the way. It allows
for shortcuts if needed and encourages alterna-
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Peter A Weinstein, DVM, MBA
routes only when required.
So, look at protocols as a chocolate cake
recipe that you can use to make the ultimate
chocolate cake but with the option, if needed,
to add nuts, whipped cream or dark chocolate
instead of milk chocolate ultimately giving
you a chocolate cake with a slightly different
taste.
WHY ARE PROTOCOLS SO
IMPORTANT?
There a many reasons why a pet, the client,
staff, the doctors, and the practice will benefit
including:
• More consistent and reliable care pro
vided by all doctors and staff
• Less confusion between doctors and
the doctors and staff on case manage
ment
• Optimal communication without for
getting things
• More accurate charging for services
provided
In a single doctor practice, protocols act as a
guideline for clinical care. In a busy practice,
it has been shown that, on busy days, services
and compliance suffer as doctors and staff
rush to get patients into and out of rooms and
out of the clinic. Medications forget to be prescribed. Ear smears are skipped. Rechecks
aren’t scheduled. Etc.
Protocols provide a checklist to be used by
both the doctor and staff to ensure optimal
care for case management. With a checklist
for an ear infection, the ear smear is a line
item. With a checklist for an ear infection,
there is a line item for TOPICAL MEDICATION based upon cytology results and a different line item for ORAL ANTIBIOTICS, if