The protocol solution: a mildly acidic commentary.
Protocols have captured the imagination of American's health care guru's. These self-proclaimed experts promise decreases in health care expenses of up to 25 percent if protocols for the appropriate use of expensive procedures are adopted throughout the country. With the establishment of several proprietary protocol companies and the push to develop national clinical guidelines, protocols have appeared on the health care scene with a vengeance. However, protocols will have dramatically different effects, depending on how and where they are implemented. This article will concentrate on the challenges of implementing protocols in a single health care institution, typically a hospital or a managed care institution.
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D000465:Algorithms; D002985:Clinical Protocols; D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass / Q000592:standards; D017046:Cost Savings; D006801:Humans; D008327:Mammography / Q000592:standards; D010358:Patient Participation; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000191:economics; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards*; D014481:United States