Above post edited to reflect the fact that I did not write that quote. It was a statement by Mario to me.
It's true. It was I who blasphemed!
Templates make me feel that I am being forced to provide MacDonald's burgers to a person that deserves a thoughtfully prepared meal. I cannot honestly say I have EVER done approached two patients exactly the same. Being expedient does not make something quality.
I'm not a doctor. Nor do I know many doctors. [ethos points -5]
But I'm pretty good a analyzing processes [ethos +1], and I think that if something can be done
more quickly with the
same end result
without compromising the integrity of what was done, then it should be done that way. I understand that you think that templates compromise integrity. I partly agree. Going through the
same list of objectives for
every patient is not only McDonald's-esque, but also inefficient and a non-use and mis-use of a doctor's talents and time. The key is designing templates the right way: to allow input from the doctor where it is needed, and to eliminate not-important rote tasks. I think templates are especially useful for wellness-checks. Wellness check-ups demand, at least partly, a systematic approach to assessing a patient's health.
Being of quality does NOT make something slow/NOT expedient.
Personal Aside: As obvious as it seems to me now, this was a concept that I heavily struggled with in the past. I thought that doing things in the old ways, which for a unit of work usually require more attention to detail,concentration and effort, was a display of discipline and fortitude. And to a certain extent, it is. But why not exercise that same discipline and fortitude to do MORE than what you would ordinarily be able to do.
In my mind, the correct use of technology (and templates) is the difference between using a glass bottle of ketchup to put ketchup on the burgers VS the cool squeeze gun McDonald's employees currently use. Technology (and templates) can also be mis-used.
If templates make you feel like you're being forced to provide a McDonald's burger, perhaps you a trying to make them do too much for you (make the whole burger vs help you squeeze ketchup).
Just to be clear, we use a lot of different templates, and usually they are very generic, fragmented and allow for plenty of staff/doctor input.
Finally, Jon is a doctor and from what I can surmise from his post above, he thinks that in some situations a template can be useful.
