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Plates vi & vii of the Edwin Smith Papyrus (around the 17th century BC), among the earliest medical guidelines. A medical guideline (also called a clinical guideline, standard treatment guideline, or clinical practice guideline) is a document with the aim of guiding decisions and criteria regarding diagnosis, management, and treatment in specific areas of healthcare.
A clinical pathway is a multidisciplinary management tool based on evidence-based practice for a specific group of patients with a predictable clinical course, in which the different tasks (interventions) by the professionals involved in the patient care are defined, optimized and sequenced either by hour (ED), day (acute care) or visit (homecare).
A computer-based protocol system is a paradigm providing a set of tools which allow health care providers access to current guidelines which they can apply in practice. [1] Studies have shown that protocols can aid in optimising patient care. [2] There are two types of protocol systems: passive and active.
Clinical data standards are used to store and communicate information related to healthcare so that its meaning is unambiguous. They are used in clinical practice, in activity analysis and finding, and in research and development. There are many existing and proposed standards and many bodies working in this field.
Unwarranted variations in medical practice refer to the differences in care that cannot be explained by the illness/medical need or by patient preferences. The term “unwarranted variations” was first coined by Dr. John Wennberg when he observed small area (geographic) and practice style variations, which were not based on clinical rationale. [5]
The patient health record is the primary legal record documenting the health care services provided to a person in any aspect of the health care system. The term includes routine clinical or office records, records of care in any health related setting, preventive care, lifestyle evaluation, research protocols and various clinical databases.
Health Level Seven, abbreviated to HL7, is a range of global standards for the transfer of clinical and administrative health data between applications with the aim to improve patient outcomes and health system performance. The HL7 standards focus on the application layer, which is "layer 7" in the Open Systems Interconnection model.
In the United States, scope of practice law is determined by the states' legislatures and regulatory boards. [1] [3]According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, non-physician health care providers are providing increasing levels of service to patients, especially in rural and other underserved communities.